The New Era
by StormTrooper96
Summary: When the DOD gets fed up with the rampant crime and terrorism plaguing Gotham City a BlackOp is ordered to take care of the problem. But this simple op leads to old friends, unexpected allies, and an enemy that threatens more than just Gotham. It's a good thing the most effective weapon on Earth is a Marine, his rifle, and some dumb luck. (On hold due to laptop being broke)
1. Chapter 1

**...Classified...**

A board of several DOD officers sit around a large table in one of the Pentagon's many offices, the topic of their discussion: Domestic Terrorism. A large screen facing the board displays the layout of a large city with areas of interest highlighted in red.

"We've seen domestic terrorism rise over the past few years, as we're all aware, but there's been an alarming increase in one city and frankly the President has had enough. The city of Gotham has been nearly toppled several times by various costumed freaks and thanks to the justice system they've been thrown into an asylum instead of federal prison thanks to criminal insanity, leading to multiple escapes. Making matters worse, these events have inspired similar terrorists in cities across the county."

"So, what do you propose we do to solve this problem."

"Officially we can't subvert the law and execute these terrorists, however there are other means…"

"A black operation, kill or capture these terrorists ourselves."

"You can't be serious? Surely this is better suited for law enforcement?"

"We are; this came down from the President himself. This operation would be carried out by a single operative overseen by General Anderson, which I believe the General has a recommendation. General?"

"Thank you, gentlemen if you'll turn your attention to the screen." The image of Gotham's layout quickly changed to that of a personnel file, along with a picture of a man in his early twenty's. The man in the picture had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and an expression that looked like he had seen too much this early in his life. "Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to Sergeant Alex Westbrook, a combat engineer with the Marine Corps. Sergeant Westbrook has been in service for six years now, two combat deployments to Afghanistan, and trained in a multitude of combat related skills. His current commanding officer gave me nothing but praise and best of all Sergeant Westbrook was raised in Gotham, knows the city like the back of his hand."

"Hmm, seems like the Sergeant would do well in this endeavor. There is just one thing in his record jacket that stands out."

"Your referring to the incident at Arkham that took place four years ago I take it?"

"Yes, please explain to put our minds at ease."

"Very well. Sergeant Westbrook, then Lance Corporal Westbrook, visited Gotham on post deployment leave after his first deployment. He was at Arkham visiting a friend when the terrorist known as the Joker was broken out of the asylum."

"This friend of his, who was he?"

" _She_ was Doctor Harleen Quinzel. The two were childhood friends."

"So our proposed operator who will be ordered to kill these freaks is best friends with Harley Quinn? Doesn't that seem like a conflict of interest to you General?"

"Was friends with her. The night she broke Joker out Sergeant Westbrook gave chase alongside Arkham security, engaged her vehicle with a rifle, and brought the two back to the asylum. If that doesn't show devotion to duty I don't know what does. Sergeant Westbrook is a Marine first and foremost, he will not sway in his duty."

"Very well General. Contact your Sergeant and prep him for your operation."

"Thank you gentlemen."

"And General, one more thing. What do we call this operation of yours?"

"Call it…Operation Silent Justice."

… **Operation Status Pending…**


	2. Chapter 2

When Sergeant Alex Westbrook came down to work today he expected it to be another boring day of administrative work. The Company had just come back to Camp Pendleton from a month long field op in Twenty-Nine Palms and it was back to business of usual, which meant wasting away down at the shop hoping for the call that would send them against ISIS. Unfortunately, today was anything but. Alex was walking by the company office when First Sergeant stuck his head out and shouted at him.

" **Westbrook! Get up to Battalion now!** " He yelled before disappearing back into his office.

" _Fuck, what'd I do now?"_ Alex wonderd as he changed direction and headed back the way he came. As he got up to Battalion Alex saw a bunch of higher ups standing in front of the duty hut in the middle of a discussion. Once he stepped in the talking stopped and they all turned to stare at him before a no shit four star general stepped in front of him.

"Sergeant Westbrook, General Anderson, walk with me." He says as he begins to walk back out of Battalion.

" _Oh shit, I'm so fucked!"_ Alex thought as he walked alongside him. "Ah, yes Sir!" He says, happy to leave the other officers behind.

"Sergeant are you aware of the increasing terrorism going on in your home city?" General Anderson asks. Of course he's aware, Gotham's been a shit hole since before he even joined up but everyone knows that. It must be something more to this if a four star is asking him specifically about it, and his mind immediately goes to Harleen. Everyone in the unit knows Alex had been friends with her way back when and that piece of information has been a pain in Alex's ass for his entire career after she went crazy.

"Yes Sir, I'm well aware. Wouldn't have anything to do with Quinn would it? Cause I severed ties with her after that incident four years ago Sir." Alex informs him.

"No, nothing with her specifically but your relation to her intrigues me. That however is a discussion for another time, It's the whole lot of costumed nut heads that concerns me." He says as he stops walking. Alex notices he's lead him towards the barracks parking lot, which is empty at this time due to the Marines being at work.

"Sir, I don't know much about the others. If I could help you I would, honest."

"I know you would Sergeant, and trust me you'll be getting very familiar with them soon enough." The General replied cryptically.

"Sir?" Alex questioned, wondering what he's up to but he only smiles at the Sergeant.

"I've got a special assignment for you Sergeant. One that help bring an end to the terrorism plaguing your city." He answered

"How so?" Alex asks. Gotham law enforcement had been trying to for years, and even with the help of The Bat and his crew those maniacs kept getting out and the cycle would repeat.

"Put simply, we've organized an operation that aims to kill or capture these criminals outside of the public's eye. I've selected you to be my agent on the ground, under my command. Sound like something you'd be interested in?"

Alex was surprised at the General's bluntness. He wants one Marine to end the rampant crime in Gotham, on his own. Alex considered it for a moment before grinning. The General must have seen Alex's expression light up at the offer cause he just smiled and nodded his head.

"Pack your bags Sergeant, we leave for Gotham in five hours."

"Aye sir, thank you Sir!" Alex replied enthusiastically. As he turned to leave General Anderson called out to him.

"And one last thing Sergeant, we won't have any problems with Quinn now will we?" He asked. Alex guessed the General was concerned he wouldn't be able to pull the trigger on her. Even he would admit even he didn't know the answer to that one but he wouldn't let his new boss know that. Alex stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the General.

"Sir, if anyone's gonna take that bitch out it's gonna be me." He answered coldly.

"Outstanding. Welcome to Operation Silent Justice Sergeant…"

… **Begin Operation…**


	3. Chapter 3

Old Gotham. If Gotham was a toilet Old Gotham would be the turd that refused to go down the drain. This part of town had been home to criminals for as long as Alex remembered and it didn't seem to have changed in his absence. So of course General Anderson decided the best place to house him during this operation was in the middle of this shithole. Hooray!. At least it meant Alex didn't have to go far to get work done. He'd been briefed that He'd be acting as a recruiter for his cover, even went as far as to have him transferred to the local recruitment station, official orders and everything.

The General had dropped Alex off at an old apartment complex and told him that he'd be staying on the top floor. Turns out the DOD had bought the whole building secretly and repurposed the upper floor into a command center for the operation. The individual rooms where cleared and turned into a large open loft, fully furnished, and it came with a complete kitchen setup as well. The only other rooms were Alex's own bedroom, also furnished, the bathroom, and another room sealed by a large vault door which he assumed to be the armory. As a bonus the General had given Alex a blacked out Dodge Challenger as his means of transportation. In all it was a pretty sweet setup, the only downside was that the rest of the apartment complex was still open to the public so as to not draw suspicion. Thankfully the top floor was only accessible by elevator and that required a special key, which only Alex and General Anderson had copies of.

Speaking of the General he had taken off after dropping Alex here, saying that he would be overseeing the operation from a remote location. That suited him just fine, higher ups always did make Alex nervous.

After setting his bags away in his room Alex decided to check out the armory and see what toys they'd given him to play with. The large vault door was made of reinforced steel and would only open with a ten-digit code. Reaching into his pocket for the code and inputting it into the vault door which then cycled its multiple locks before opening. Once the door swung fully open Alex stepped inside and glanced around in amazement. Gun racks ran along each wall, all housing different weapons. Assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, SMG's, LMG's, even a freaking M2 .50 CAL! On top of all that he spotted frag grenades and other explosives, along with stacks of ammo cans for the weapons. Too say he was pleased would be an understatement, Alex felt like a kid in a candy store! Grabbing his own weapon, an M27 IAR, and a couple of magazines before locking up the armory and heading back to his room for the night.

Setting the rifle down on his bed, Alex began to unpack his things. Once his uniforms and clothes where hung up in the closet he set up his laptop on the desk provided along with some other office supplies before going to set up his personal effects.

As he's rummaging through his bags Alex came across a framed picture that had been buried at the bottom. Pulling it out revealed a photo of himself and Harleen taken at the Marine Corps ball five years ago. Alex was wearing his dress blues and Harleen in an expensive dress she had bought just for the occasion, smiles on both their faces, it had been a happier time. His nostalgia was quickly replaced by anger and without thinking Alex threw the picture against the wall, shattering the frame and scattering glass everywhere.

" _How could she betray me like that!? We were best friends, maybe more, and she tries to kill me for that nut job! She's luckily I just shot her hand after what she did!"_ Alex ranted to himself. That night was all a blur, one moment Harleen's with him in the asylum and the next she disappears before alarms start going off. He'd assumed that she'd been taken hostage during the escape, but it was only after her vehicle flipped that Alex realized the truth. He didn't know what was worse, that he didn't see it coming, or that somewhere deep in his mind he'd known all along and refused to accept it until he pulled her from the wreckage. Either way Harleen Quinzel was dead to him, killed by Harley Quinn and the Joker.

After calming down, Alex picked up the photo, now free from its frame and looked at it sadly. His best friend had died that night, allowing herself to be twisted by that maniac until she was consumed by Harley Quinn and what was worse is that she let it happen. Alex pinned the photo above his desk as a reminder of what was and what could have been. That finished he picked up one of the magazines he grabbed from the armory and removed two rounds from it. Grabbing a sharpie from his desk he quickly wrote _**Harley Quinn**_ on one casing and _**Joker**_ on the other before setting them on the desk. His friend died that, he couldn't save her, but he most certainly could avenge her death by killing the people who murdered her…

 **…Mission Complete** **…**


	4. Chapter 4

So when the General said Alex would be working at the recruitment station as his cover for being in the city he literally meant he'd be working. Alex had just finished checking into the recruitment sub-station and was given time to change out of his service alphas before he spent the rest of the day sitting behind a desk figuring out how to be a recruiter. General Anderson made one mistake when making these orders by neglecting to send him to recruiting school beforehand so Alex would be winging this whole thing. Thankfully there was only one representative per branch of service at this RSS and the Lieutenant in charge of him worked from home most of the time, so at least he wouldn't have anyone breathing down his neck the whole time. It was a slow day at the office, Alex only had two people come in and ask him questions about enlisting the whole day.

Once he locked up the office Alex drove back to his apartment in Old Gotham, hung up his uniform, changed into civilian clothes, and turned on the TV in the loft before ordering some pizza. The news was rather boring tonight so he switched over to one of the cartoon channels. What because he's a Sergeant he can't watch cartoons? Anyways Alex retrieved ammo and Magazines from the armory for his IAR and loaded mags while he waited, finishing around thirty full magazines when dinner finally arrived. Alex took the elevator down to meet the driver and payed him before finally getting back up and enjoying a few slices while cartoons played in the background.

He was halfway through his third slice when his phone started vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out revealed the General was calling and he quickly answered it. "Evening Sir, how can I help you?"

 _"Westbrook I know you've just got settled in but I have a mission for you."_ He quickly says.

"I'm all ears Sir." Alex tells him as he quickly grab a notepad and pencil to take down notes.

 _"Police chatter says Riddler, AKA Edward Nygma, is out causing trouble in the city, bombs planted in several locations armed with anti-tampering devices. Only way to stop them from going off is to solve riddles at each site. I've gotten word that Batman and his crew are on the scene as well but frankly we don't have time to wait on them. I've had some people tap into Riddler's network and traced him to a warehouse by the docks."_

 _Riddler, anti-tamper bombs, multiple sites, Bat's on scene, warehouse docks, #guards?_ Hejotted down as he listened to the General. "Sir you want me to take him alive?" Alex asks.

 _"This is your mission Sergeant, prosecute the target as you see fit, but he is wanted for multiple acts of terrorism, murder, and theft."_

"Right, got it Sir, and what if the Bat's decide to interfere?" That was the real question. Alex knew what they could do, and he respected the work they did, but he didn't think they'd take too kindly to him killing their enemies even if it was lawfully ordered.

 _"I don't have a problem with them like the GCPD does, however you can't allow them to get between you and your mission. I'll advise you to avoid contact if at all possible but the mission takes priority."_

"Understood Sir, I'm on my way to the coordinates now." He says before hanging up. Sure enough the General sends me the building number Riddler's hiding out in. _Warehouse 1731._ Alex ran into his room and changed into a black camouflage uniform and threw on his load bearing vest, or LBV for short. It didn't offer the protection of a plate carrier but it would hold the same amount of gear. He ran back out to the loft and loaded the LBV's mag pouches and grabbed his IAR from the table before running down the fire escape and into his waiting vehicle. Alex started the Challenger and quickly sped through the streets towards the docks.

Alex parked a block away from the docks and made his way on foot to the warehouse, stopping at the adjacent warehouse and climbing a ladder onto the roof. Once on the roof he laid in the prone and propped his IAR on its bipod before pulled back the charging handle and loading a round into the chamber. Weapon loaded Alex looked through the sight and scouted out the warehouse Riddler was hiding in. At least eight guards with AK's were milling about outside and no doubt there'd by more waiting inside. No way he was sneaking in it seemed but at least he'd catch them off guard.

Flicking his weapons safety over too semi-automatic and sighting in on the thug closest to the door. Breathe, exhale, breathe, exhale, **BANG!** The thug collapses into the wall, a gunshot wound through his chest. The remaining thugs jump in surprise before, **BANG!** , another one goes down clutching his throat. At this point the others start firing in random directions completely unaware that Alex is on a rooftop. Alex switched over to automatic and fired several short bursts down at them, finishing them off.

The perimeter guards dealt with Alex got up and slid down the ladder he came up on. Back on docks he approached the warehouse, weapon up, and ready to breach the door. A kick from his boot breaks the door off the rusty hinges and he rushed inside shooting two more thugs on his way to cover. Suddenly gunfire lights up the building as the thugs inside fire at his cover. Luckily for him they had no concept of talking guns and they all had to stop to reload at the same time leaving Alex a precious few seconds to break cover and take down a few of them. Three more down, leaving two more between Alex and what looked like an old access tunnel. Deciding that time was of the essence he ducked back behind cover and primed a frag grenade.

Safety's removed, Alex tossed the grenade over his cover. "Catch bitches!" He shouts at the thugs as the grenade sails through the air, clattering on the ground before exploding, killing one thug and crippling the other. Alex vaulted over his cover and walked over to the thug that was left alive and noticed he only had a few shrapnel wounds. He contemplated shooting him for a second but couldn't bring himself to do it; there was a deference between combat and murder, and he wasn't going to cross that line so instead he delivered a quick butt stroke to his forehead rendering the thug unconscious.

Finally, the way was clear and Alex made his way to the access tunnel, opening the old door and pointing his muzzle down the tunnel. When nothing presented itself he lowered his weapon and began to make his way down the tunnel, noticing that multiple power lines ran across the walls. Eventually Alex wound up on a catwalk overlooking an underground storage room. Various computers and monitors lined the walls and the room itself was lit in an eerily green light. Yeah, definitely the place. Must've been further than he thought as Riddler and his escorts looked calm, unaware of the firefight that had taken place not less than five minutes ago.

 **BANG BANG! BANG BANG!** The Riddler's last two guards went down from the hammer pairs sent into their chests and he turned around in surprise as Alex hopped the rail and landed in front of him.

"Well, you're not who I was expecting." He said to me once he regained his composure.

"What a shame, cause I've been looking for you."

"Yes, I can see you've gone to great lengths to get here and now that you've found me I have to wonder what you intend to do?"

"Your guards are dead, that should be answer enough."

"Indeed, but your no mercenary. No no, you're too well equipped, too well trained for that. You can't be law enforcement either, they're too stuck up with protocol to go in guns blazing like you did. If I had to guess you're working for the government, but why would they send an agent after me?"

"You tell me why I'm here and I'll let you know if your right."

"Of course, they're tired of just throwing us in Arkham only to be on the streets again. Oh dear, you intend to kill me don't you?"

Alex smirked at the look of horror that comes over his face as he raise his rifle towards his chest. Remember how he said there was a difference between combat and murder? Well there's also a difference between murder and killing a known terrorist. "Edward Nygma, by order of the Department of Defense I hear by sentence you to death by execution for multiple charges of domestic terrorism, murder, and theft."

"No no, wait! I can change I swear, just send me back to Arkham I'll stay this time! I'll…"

 **BANG!** Alex cut off his pleading with a single shot to the chest.

"Yeah well you should've thought about that earlier." He tells him as he slumps against a computer clutching his chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but Alex had made sure to hit his heart insuring that he'd bleed out quickly. He removed a portable camera from his cargo pocket and snapped a picture of him to send back as confirmation of the kill.

His job done Alex looked for a way out, spotting another access tunnel on his floor leading out to docks. He glanced back to make sure Riddler was well and truly dead before taking his leave.

 **...**

This was the last bomb. Riddler had gotten smarter, using anti-tampering devices but it still wasn't smart enough for Batman it seemed. Speaking of him he was busy working on figuring out the last riddle while Tim and Barbara kept watch in case any of Riddler's thugs happened to be lurking nearby. Suddenly they got a call from Alfred back at the Batcave.

 _"Sorry to interrupt but it seems there's a shootout happening at the docks. Police reports say that Riddler's men are engaged with an unknown aggressor. They've cordoned off the area and are waiting for reinforcements before going in."_

"Got it, thanks Alfred." Batman said while he continued to work on the bomb. "Batgirl, go on ahead and find out what's going on." He orders.

"What about you two?" She asks.

"We'll be fine here. Once this bombs offline we'll meet up with you now go."

"I'm on it!" She replies happily. Riddler's gang and an unknown assailant? Sounded like fun to her. Barbara ran outside, hopped on her motorcycle, and sped off towards the docks. Once at the docks she bypassed the police barricade via the rooftops and made her way to the warehouses. It wasn't hard to tell which one it was, eight thugs lay dead around the entrance, shell casings scattered about, and the door had been forcibly opened. Inside looked much worse, an explosion had gone off and more dead thugs were scattered around the room with bits of what used to look like a leg. One thug looked to be alive, but he had a nasty bruise on his forehead which looked exactly like a rifle stock. Scanning the room, Barbara found an access tunnel, already open and waiting.

As she made her way down the tunnel Barbara could start to make out voices.

"…Order of the Department of Defense I hear by sentence you to death by execution for multiple charges of domestic terrorism, murder, and theft." Barbara didn't recognize that voice but the next one was definitely Riddler and he sounded terrified.

"No no, wait! I can change I swear, just send me back to Arkham I'll stay this time! I'll…"

 **BANG!** _"NO!"_ Barbara didn't have any love for Riddler, but that didn't mean she wanted him dead! I sprinted down the tunnel and came out above the Riddler's lair where she spotted him slumped against one of the computers. Barbara quickly jumped the rail and ran to him, med kit in hand, and started to check him over but she needn't have bothered. A single bullet had pierced his heart and he had bled out before she could get to him. _"Damn."_

Barbara called up Batman on the radio after replacing her med kit. "Batman, I'm at the warehouse but I was too late. Riddler and his men are dead and there's no sign of the shooter." She told him

 _"Hmm, that's a shame. Any idea on who the shooter was?"_ He asked.

"Umm, I didn't see them but from what I'm seeing here they're obviously not your average gun for hire. Shots are too precise and this looks like military grade munitions." She informed him, picking up the single shell casing lying on the floor in front of her and studying it. "I think I also heard them say something about the DOD, but I'm not sure."

 _"Alright, collect what you can and get back to the Batcave. Looks like a SWAT teams moving in now so better make it quick."_ He told me before hanging up.

Barbara pocketed the shell casing and collected the Riddler's cane before making her exit through another open access tunnel. The police barricade was still up once she got out of the tunnels so she snuck by on the roofs once again and made her way back to my bike. As Barbara rode back to Wayne Manor she couldn't help but think that this was just the beginning of another dark time for Gotham.

… **Mission Complete…**


	5. Chapter 5

Man what a night. As far as missions go that was near flawless, the Riddler was dead along with his thugs, save one, and his bombs had been diffused though Alex couldn't take credit for that. Either way there was one less nut in Gotham. Today however would be rather busy. Alex had a meeting scheduled with the police Commissioner James Gordon and would then spend the day trying to get people enlisted. Alex had to wear his Service Charlies today since he was technically on duty and walked into the GCPD, removing his cover as he did so. The Commissioner spotted Alex as he walked through the door and walked over to him, hand outstretched.

"Morning Sergeant. Jim Gordon, pleasure to meet you." He greeted as Alex shook his hand.

"Likewise Sir, thank you for meeting with me."

"It's no trouble, we always make time for our service members here." He said as he led Alex to his office. "Please take a seat." He offered.

"Thanks."

"So your our new recruiter huh? Heard you were from around here, must be nice to be back home."

"Yeah, I grew up in Gotham but honestly I didn't choose to come back. My last visit didn't exactly go well…" He trailed off as memories of that night four years ago resurface.

"Hmm, I thought you looked familiar. You were a Lance Corporal back then if I remember correctly." He realizes. Now that Alex thought about it he looks pretty familiar himself, lot less gray in his hair back then.

"Yeah, I was. That was you that took her away, I remember now. Shit it's been a long time Sir." He laughed as he realized that they already knew each other.

"Ha, four years seems like yesterday doesn't it? That was a hell of a night and I don't think I ever properly thanked you for stopping Quinn that night."

"It was no trouble Sir, I just wished that it hadn't gone down that way." He told him honestly.

"I know what you mean, she seemed like such a promising young woman. It's too bad that she turned to a life of crime."

"Yeah, she was a good person, a good friend, once. But sadly those days are over. Far as I'm concerned she's dead." Perhaps that was a bit cold, but he wouldn't hide his current opinion of her.

"Yes I suppose it would be better to remember what she was rather than what she is now. I've had several altercations with her since and they weren't pleasant to say the least."

"Well hopefully someone locks her up for good, along with those other nut jobs."

"Speaking of that, did you hear? Someone offed Riddler last night. Killed his men and then shot him through heart. Wasn't some random gunner either from the looks of it, shots were too accurate." Of course they were accurate, who does he think he's talking too?

"Really? Well I can't say I'm sad to hear that."

"Ha ha, yes well at least he finally got what he deserved. But as much as I appreciate the job we can't have vigilantes running around doing our jobs for us." He continued. Alex needed to steer this conversation somewhere else before he puts two and two together.

"Anyways Sir, I needed to ask if you knew any good places for me to go recruiting." He asks.

"Oh, of course. You should try the library. Plenty of upstanding citizens spend time there and I'm not just saying that because my daughter Barbara works there." He tells him.

'Weird, is he trying to set me up with his daughter? Naw, stay focused Westbrook you're on duty here.' Alex thinks to himself.

"Ha I bet. I'll go check it out, thanks for the help Sir." Alex thanked him as he shake his hand once more before turning to leave.

"No trouble Sergeant and it's good to have you back in Gotham, I think having you here will be a positive influence on the city."

 **...**

After last night a boring day at work was just what Barbara needed to clear her head and figure out what had happened. She knew what happened but the motives behind it, and who did it was still a mystery.

She was staring at the bullet casing that she'd recovered at the docks, a 5.56mm rifle cartridge. A quick internet search revealed that the round was the military and law enforcement equivalent of the civilian .223 round. Why is this bit important you ask? Well .223 is less expensive than 5.56 and if Barbara knew criminals they always went with the lowest bidder. There was also that partial exchange she overheard.

"… _By order of the Department of Defense…"_

So the shooter was definitely military. But why? Had someone with enough say in the government ordered Riddler's death? Or was this all part of something much bigger? And even if she found out who it was, could she blame them for following an order? Her dad once told her that some orders could be disobeyed for the right reason, but then again she's never been in that position before. This little casing gave her so many questions and not enough answers.

"Ahem."

Barbara looked up and saw that a man in uniform was on the other side of her desk, looking down at the casing in my hand.

"Oh, uh, sorry sir. Can I help you?" She asks, quickly stashing the casing away.

"You must be Barbara. I'm Sergeant Westbrook, the new recruiter for the Marines. I was just speaking with your father, Commissioner Gordon and he told me this would be a good place to try and recruit some people?" He asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah yeah. Go ahead Sergeant, there's plenty of college students around here. If you'd like I could show you around." She offered, returning his smile. This guy said he was new in town, and he is military. It was a slim chance but could he be the shooter?

"I'd appreciate that and please, call me Alex." He replied. So now she had his full name, Sergeant Alex Westbrook. She'd have to look him up in the Batcave later on.

"Well this is the main desk; you could set up a booth just over there someday if you'd like." She tells him, as he nods in consideration. "So your new in town, when did you get in?" Barbara asks curiously.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say _new_ , I grew up in Gotham, but to answer your question about two nights ago." He answered. So he lived here, cleaning up his home town could be a possible motive. "Say, what were you doing with that shell casing earlier, not planning on shooting up the place I hope?" He suddenly asked.

It was a joke to be sure, but the way he was staring at the casing earlier raised some flags. "Oh that? I found it lying on the sidewalk outside. You know how Gotham is, doesn't seem that a day goes by that someone isn't killing somebody else." She lies and he seems to buy it.

"Yeah, you got a point there. One reason I got out of this city."

"Really? I'd think your current career field is more dangerous than staying in Gotham." She tells him as she leads him over towards the reading area.

"Naw, fighting ISIS is pretty much like fighting the gangs around here except they gotta thing for explosives and cutting people's heads off, those sick fucks." He says as they stop walking.

"I suppose your right, I guess. Anyways most of students hang around here during the lunch hour."

"Cool, I'll make sure to stop by then. How many of your peers do you think are interested in signing up?" He asks as they continue walking past the bookshelves.

"There's a few I could think of, I'll be sure to tell them you'll be stopping by occasionally."

"That'd be greatly appreciated."

"So, you hear that someone killed the Riddler last night?" Barbara asks, waiting to gauge his reaction.

"Yeah, your father told me about it when we spoke. Can't say I'm upset, guy was domestic terrorist and by all rights he had it coming. I understand that the guy who did it broke the law, but your father and I are in agreement that Riddler had it coming." Damn you dad! Spoiling everything! Oh well, he did have a point. Barbara looked around and found that we'd ended up back at the front desk.

"Well Sergeant, Alex, I mean this is the end of our tour. I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other huh?"

"I guess so. Thanks for showing me around, I'll try not to be a nuisance." He smiled before handing me a stack of business cards. "Here's some of my cards and feel free to call if you need anything, alright?" he says with a smile as he turns to leave. Did the guy Barbara suspected of being a killer just hit on her? Those business cards did conveniently have his personal number on them.

"Yeah, totally. See you around!" Barbara calls out to him as he walks through out the front door. It could have been the uniform but suspect or not he was pretty good looking…

 **...**

After work Barbara headed over to the Batcave so she could look up Sergeant Westbrook in Bruce's database. She sat down behind the computer and typed in the good Sergeants name. In a matter of seconds his record jacket became open to her.

 _Westbrook, Alex, S_

 _Present Grade E-5 (Sergeant)_

 _USMC, Active Duty_

 _MOS: 1371 Combat Engineer_

 _DOB: 01/13/92_

 _COB: Gotham_

 _Date of Enlistment: 01/01/2010_

 _EAS Date: 01/01/2014_

 _Date of Reenlistment: 01/01/2014_

 _Current EAS Date: 01/01/2018_

 _Height: 5'11"_

 _Weight: 166 lbs_

 _Hair Color: Brown_

 _Eye Color: Brown_

 _Awards_

 _Medical Records_

 _Education_

 _Basic Training Record_

 _Baisc Individual Record_

 _Record of Emergency Data_

 _Leave and Earnings Statement_

 _Incident report 09/05/2012_

An incident report? Interesting. She clicked on the link, opening the report.

 _On this date 20120905 Said Named Marine LCPL Westbrook was involved in an attempted escape at Arkham Asylum, Gotham City. SNM was on post deployment leave visiting Dr. Harleen F Quinzel at Arkham Asylum. On the evening of 20120905 the criminal known only as the Joker was brought into Arkham Asylum by the vigilante Batman. Upon seeing her patient being brought in Dr. Quinzel had a breakdown and fled the Asylum, unbeknownst to SNM. SNM stayed in Dr. Quinzel's quarters when an explosion was heard followed by alarms at around 2300. Following the explosion SNM attempted to locate Dr. Quinzel, not knowing that she was responsible for the explosion and subsequent escape. Believing Dr. Quinzel to be in danger SNM joined Arkham Security in the following vehicle pursuit, engaging Dr. Quinzel's vehicle with an M16 assault rifle. The pursuit ended at approximately 0115 when SNM shot Dr. Quinzel's right hand, resulting in her losing control of her vehicle and flipping several times before crashing into a store front. SNM pulled Dr. Quinzel as Arkham security and GCPD Officers secured Joker. Upon learning the truth of Dr. Quinzel's involvement SNM turned her over to GCPD Lieutenant Gordon, James. SNM was then brought back to GCPD HQ and held for questioning before being released to his platoon commander Lieutenant Asher, Anthony at 1230 on 20120906. SNM is currently pending return date to Gotham City to make witness statement at Dr. Quinzel's trial, date pending._

 _*Edit 20130115: LCPL Westbrook has stated that he was aware of Dr. Quinzel's role as Jokers psychiatrist but was unaware of how her constant exposure to her patient had affected her mental state. As of this date Dr. Quinzel has been deemed mentally unstable and scheduled for treatment at Arkham Asylum. SNM has been returned to active duty at 1_ _st_ _CEB and awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for preventing the escape of a dangerous criminal._

 _*Edit 20130201: LCPL Westbrook has been placed under suicide watch by his squad leader. Dr. Quinzel's breakdown combined with the trauma of seeing his friend LCPL Daniels, Austin killed in an IED strike in Afghanistan has resulted in SNM becoming distant from his peers and engaging in anti-social behavior. As of this date 20130201 SNM has been denied the use of alcohol while off duty and denied access to firearms and munitions during training. SNM has also been assigned to speak with the Battalion Chaplain twice monthly for psychological evaluation until SNM is determined to be fit for duty._

 _*Edit 20130601: CPL Westbrook cleared for full duty by Battalion Chaplain. SNM was promoted to the rank of Corporal following last psychological evaluation and given the position of fire team leader._

So, Alex had been friends with Harley Quinn before she went crazy. Dad had told me about that night four years ago, how a Marine home on leave had stopped the Joker from escaping Arkham. He said that when Quinn had been handed over that the Marine had the saddest look on his face, and after reading this report I'd believe it. Barbara couldn't imagine what it'd be like to come back from war only to have your best friend turn on you like that, must have been terrible. As revealing as this report had been it didn't paint Alex as the Riddler's killer, if anything he'd be gunning after Joker for what he did to his friend. She felt kinda shitty, having pried this far into his personal life behind his back but she had to make sure that it wasn't him right?

Barbara closed out of the file and shut down the computer before heading home, having made no progress on solving this case.

 **...Mission Complete...**


	6. Chapter 6

After snooping through that incident report Barbara felt like she should just go and talk to Alex herself about what happened, hear his side of the story. She waited until her lunch break to head down to the RSS and when she got there she found Alex behind his desk glaring at his computer screen.

"No Tina I don't want to download your fucking music share drive; you can shove it up your ass!" He ranted oblivious to her walking in.

"Umm, is this a bad time?" Barbara asked, wondering what he's doing.

"Huh? Oh hey Barbara! No, just doing some bullshit cyber awareness annual training." He replied somewhat embarrassed that She'd walked in on him in the middle of shouting at his computer.

"Did you need something? Wait, don't tell me you're here to enlist cause I'm going to tell you right now that you're making the worst decision of your life if you are." He continues.

"No no, nothing like that. I just have a few questions for you if that's alright."

"Sure, what about?"

"Well my dad and I were talking last night and he told me about how he'd meet you a few years ago when you stopped Harley Quinn from breaking Joker out of Arkham and since I'm studying forensic psychology I thought that I could ask you about her for reference." She lied.

Alex closed his computer and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath as he considered her request. There was an awkward silence as he continued to compose himself, no doubt reliving the memory in his head. Finally, he leaned forward and shook his head. "Alright, go ahead."

"Ok, dad said that you two were friends. How closely would you describe your relationship was?"

"We were best friends, grew up on the same block. She didn't really care for her parents and her siblings were rather annoying from what I remember. Anyways I didn't have any siblings of my own so we kinda looked out for each other. We stayed friends through school then she went off and studied to be a criminal psychiatrist which sounded pretty cool when she'd tell me about it and I went off to the Marines. I remember she'd always try and pick my brain, see if the military was having any psychological effects on me, which at the time it hadn't, not until my deployment but I'm jumping ahead of myself. Jump forward a couple of months and I invite her as my date for the Marine Corps ball, that's when our relationship went from being _just friends_ to… I wouldn't say _boyfriend/girlfriend_ or _friends with benefits_. I didn't ask for any more than she was willing to give but there was something between us." He explained, a saddened but thoughtful expression on his face.

"I did love her once, but my deployment was coming up and I couldn't put her through that. Maybe If I had she'd have never…" He trailed off as he stared at his desk.

"I'm sorry, we can stop if this is too much." Barbara offered, feeling sorry for bringing up any regrets he had, but he gestures for me to keep going. "Did you see it coming? When she snapped?"

"No, at least not immediately. There were some red flags, the way she'd talk about Joker was odd but I just thought she was excited with the supposed progress she was making."

"You didn't believe that she was actually curing him?"

"I wanted to, how could I not support her? But assigning a new doctor to one of the most dangerous patients? That's crazy and they set her up for failure." So he partially blames the Arkham staff for what happened, that seems fair. If they'd have assigned her to a simpler case first perhaps she could have been more ready.

"How did you feel when you realized that she'd been responsible for the breakout?"

"How did I feel? Betrayed, hurt, enraged. I felt like it would have been better to die in Afghan than to come home and witness that."

"And what do you think of her today now that she's a criminal?" Barbara already had her own opinion of the Joker's lackey but hearing a former friend would be interesting.

"I tell myself that Harleen Quinzel died in the explosion that freed Joker, that he and Harley Quinn killed her and that makes going on easier if she's dead. Cause Harley Quinn might look and sound like her but she's not the woman I knew four years ago." That's an odd coping mechanism, but Barbara guess it would offer some ease of mind to see Harleen Quinzel and Harley Quinn as two separate entities.

"Do you think that it's possible she could be redeemed? That she could be Harleen Quinzel again?"

"I…I don't know the answer to that. How much of Harleen is left in her? And is that worth saving? Even if she did come back she'd have to spend the rest of her life in a prison. I'd like to hope that one day she'll come back but I know deep in my bones that she'll never be the same. No it's easier to think that she's dead and remember what was."

"If you could say something to her right now what would it be?"

"That I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, that I miss you, and that I want nothing more than to bring you back." He answered sadly. It was saddening to know that he held himself responsible for her actions, that her descent into madness was a failure on his part.

"I, thank you Alex that's all the questions I had. I need to head back to the library now, maybe I'll see you there later?"

"Yeah, yeah count on it. I uh, I got some thinking I need to do." He says as Barbara leaves him alone with his thoughts.

 **...**

Fuck. Those questions Barbara had asked Alex earlier about Harleen had gotten him thinking. He had actually admitted that he wanted to save her when for the longest time he'd thought of nothing more than putting a bullet in her skull. He guessed that deep down inside he still cared for her, even if she no longer gave a rat's ass about him. Could she be saved though? That was the real question.

Joker would need to be taken out of the picture to start and Alex had already thought of multiple ways he wanted to kill him. Shooting his face several times with a shotgun until it was a bloody pulp would be a good start and then he'd finish by strapping the body to enough C4 to send it to the moon. Yeah that'd work.

Alex knew he couldn't let this get personal though, he was here to carry out the governments orders and that meant taking down ALL of Gotham's criminals, including Quinn. He had to remind myself that he need to be able to pull that trigger if he had to and he guessed that could count as _saving_ her depending on how one looked at it. Fuck this was hurting his brain. Damn you Barbara for digging up these buried feelings! Guess he'd have to cross that bridge when he got to it.

… **Mission Complete…**


	7. Chapter 7

_"As much as I like your idea Sergeant, we cannot just wait for Batman to arrest your targets and then bomb Arkham with a drone strike. That would defeat the whole purpose of you being there."_ General Anderson told Alex over the phone. He hadn't actually meant for him to consider that request when he'd asked but whatever.

"Come on Sir, your telling me that we can't spare one predator drone?" Alex joked.

 _"No, now if we could get back to business I need you to do some recon. Go around the city and gather intel on where the rest of your targets are."_

"Sir, you do know that most of them frequent the Iceberg Lounge right? That's pretty common knowledge." Alex informed him, hearing him sigh over the phone.

 _"You can't be serious Sergeant; I think our boys at intelligence would have known about that."_

"Well, maybe not common knowledge outside of Gotham but it's good intel. The VIP lounge in the back is where they go to meet up or do whatever it is super villains do on their off hours."

 _"Alright we'll keep an eye on the place but I don't want you going in there."_

"You sure Sir? Cause I could just as easily walk in with one of those machineguns you've given me and mow the place down. Or even better…" Alex is about to suggest another drone strike when General Anderson suddenly cuts him off.

 _"NO Sergeant! Not doubting your combat ability but I can't afford to have you walk in there without back up, these people have racked up quite the body count and I don't want you to join that."_

"Very well Sir, your call. Still want me to go gather more intel, or do you have another mission?"

 _"Nothing actionable yet, but we've caught wind of a possible arms exchange at the park going down tomorrow evening. Observe the transaction and report back to me on the parties involved. This is a recon mission, engage only if you have to."_

"You got it Sir!" He replies eagerly before hanging up. No shooting huh? Easier said than done.

Alex checked his phone for the time and saw that it was almost noon, time to head down to the library and sucker some kids into selling their souls away to the Green Weenie.

 **...**

Barbara was back at the Batcaves computer looking for more information on Sergeant Westbrook; he seemed like a good enough guy the few times she'd spoken with him but she couldn't shake the feeling that he was in town for more than just recruiting duty, he arrived in town one day and the next evening Riddler and his goons end up dead in what looks like a military style ambush. Barbara had to get through several firewalls before she finally hacked her way into his military records and began to go over everything she could about him after the 2012 incident. Apparently after being cleared for full duty Alex had thrown himself into his work, attending multiple courses to enhance his combat skills. He definitely had the ability and means to pull off that ambush. As Barbara was digging through more records she noticed Bruce walk up behind her and look over what she was doing.

"Still looking into who our mystery shooter is?"

"Yeah, I'm nearly positive that this is our guy."

"Sergeant Westbrook. The recruiter?"

"He arrived in town a day before Riddler's gang was wiped out and on top of that he knew Harley Quinn before she went crazy, look here's the incident report." Bruce quickly reads over the incident report and the attached edits and rubs his chin in thought.

"I remember that, didn't realize he was back in town. But just because he knows Quinn doesn't peg him as a murderer, beside it says he cut ties with her afterwards. The timing of his arrival and Riddler's death are interesting however and if I'm reading these records right it certainly looks like he's capable of doing it."

"What about what I heard in the warehouse? _By order of the DOD_? Why is the military suddenly taking an interest in Gotham's criminals?"

"I think they always have been, this is just the first time they've done something _if_ it is them."

"Well _if_ it is them what do we do? I mean we can't exactly start fighting the military can we?"

"No, not until we know the full extent of what's going on. Until then we'll go about business as usual."

"And if I run into this agent?"

"Do what you can to prevent them from killing anymore and try to find out what they're objective is. If it turns out they're just another wildcard take them in. We'll also need to keep an eye on this Sergeant Westbrook, you've met him already?"

"Yeah, he comes by the library to recruit. He's a pretty cool guy when you talk with him, a little spontaneous at times, but he seems like your average guy."

"That just happens to be a trained warfighter, says here he's killed five insurgents in Afghanistan on top of Riddler and his gang if it was him. Remember that when you're dealing with him Barbara."

"Gee thanks dad…" I say, rolling my eyes.

 **...**

Today was pretty successful, got a few kids that realized they couldn't play sports forever to come in and sign some papers which meant that Alex actually had to be at the office now during working hours and PT the kids. Oh well, at least they were pretty fit as it was. Anyways, Alex headed down to the park a couple of hours before dark, dressed in his gear and wearing a balaclava, exposing only his eyes to hide his face, and set up some cameras and audio shotguns in the bushes and trees around the park before setting himself up in a maintenance shed on the roof of an apartment building. Alex's IAR was already locked and loaded, sporting a suppressor this time, and resting on its bipod on top of a table he had pushed against the window overlooking the park, notepad and pencil lying next to it. Alex was about five-hundred yards away and had about a hundred and thirty feet of elevation from the park giving him a relatively clear view save for the few trees lining the edge of the park. With everything set up all he had to do now was wait for the party to arrive.

Couple hours and a few piss bottles later it was dark and vehicles started pulling into the park. Alex quickly hit the remote connected to the surveillance gear, powering them on and sighted down his scope at the park. Once the cars stopped several men in military style uniforms got out and met up with guys in expensive looking suits. Some of the military looking guys retrieved a large crate from one of their vans and set it behind what looked to be their representative. He was a rather large Caucasian male with a full head of hair and a thick beard wearing a leather trench coat over his uniform. As this was going on Alex spotted the gangster looking guy's rep walk over and shake hands with the bearded guy. He was dressed in a sharp suit and looked way too handsome to be doing this sort of thing, at least he thought until he turned his face. The other side of his face looked like it had met the business end of large IED, hair burned away and even from this distance Alex could see exposed bone and muscle tissue. Only one person in this town with a face that fucked up, Harvey Dent, or as he now went by Two-Face.

The meet up now under way the military guys opened up their crate for Two-Face to inspect the contents and Alex quickly jotted down everything that he saw since the cars pulled up.

" _2300, vehicles pull into park. one group in non-standard military uniforms, carrying AK's, leader is Caucasian with dark hair and thick beard, wearing leather coat. Second group in expensive suits, armed with AR-15's/SMG's, positive ID on Harvey Dent (Two-Face). Group one making exchange with Dent's crew, 1 crate containing what appears to be RPG-7 launchers, unknown quantity of launchers and rockets."_

Shit, Alex had expected it to be more AK's not god damn RPG's! He briefly considered flicking his safety off and spraying a large burst through the lot of them, but then thought better of it. This was just a preview from the looks of it, and from the way Dent's face smiled, Alex thought it was smiling at least, said that he was pleased with the launchers. He said a few more words to the bearded guy before motioning one of his men forward. Dent's man brought over a large case and passed it off to Dent who then passed it to the bearded guy. The two shook hands again and returned to their vehicles, Dent's men loading the crate of RPG's into their van before driving off.

" _2345, exchange made, both parties leave park."_ Alex wrote down before packing up his notes and slinging his IAR across his chest. He's about to leave the maintenance shed and head down to the park to retrieve the gear which had hopefully caught the audio of that transaction when he bumped into someone as he walked out the door causing me to stumble back a few steps. " _Stupid!"_ He thinks to himself as he brings his weapon up and stares over the scope at a boy dressed in a red outfit and wearing a mask. Only one kid ran around in that outfit, Robin.

"Nice evening to assassinate someone isn't it?" He asks with a smirk on his face.

"You know what they say about making assumptions kid, I wasn't planning on shooting anyone tonight." Alex tells him as he lowers his weapon. He'd never shot a kid before and he didn't plan on starting tonight.

"So you're the mystery shooter huh? Batgirls driving herself crazy trying to figure out who you are."

Shit, Alex didn't realize one of the Bat's was already on his case. "That so? Well who does she think I am?" He asks hoping he'll be stupid enough to tell him and sure enough he is.

"She's pretty sure you're the Marine recruiter, the time between your arrival and Riddler's death is pretty short if that's who you are." He reveals and Alex is extremely thankful he wore the balaclava tonight.

Shit, she's too close. This op may be over before it's even begun.

"Look kid I'm not here to cause trouble for you and your guys, and hey? How did you even know I was up here?" Alex suddenly asked, realizing he had literally appeared out of thin air.

"Your muzzle was sticking out the window."

"FUCK! Rookie mistake Westbrook!" He screams internally. Alex tried to walk around him but he just steps in front of his path again.

"Wow, where are you going? We're not done here." He says, poking a finger into my chest.

"Your brave kid, messing with a guy carrying a loaded weapon, and I actually know how to use it unlike those goons you're used to fighting. I respect that kid, really I do and you'd probably make a hell of a Marine one day if you get tired of doing this, but for real I got no beef with you and the other Bats." Alex says as he starts walking backwards towards the fire escape, Robin slowly following him. "There's just one thing I gotta ask you though." He asks as he reaches the fire escape and the attached drain pipe.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" He shouted suddenly, pointing up into the air behind Robin. He quickly turns around to see what Alex is pointing at, combat stance ready and holding a batarang in his hand when Alex quickly grabs the drainage pipe and slides down the building, taking off down the street.

Alex didnt stop running until he reached his Challenger that's parked a few blocks away, leaning against the hood laughing his ass off. Oh, the look on his face as he shouted! Alex couldn't believe he actually fell for that! He laughed to himself a bit more before getting into his car and starting it, changing back into civilian clothes before heading back to the park and retrieving his gear. Once that's done Alex headed back to the apartment in Old Gotham and downloaded the audio and visual data before forwarding it and a copy of his notes to General Anderson. Hopefully he and his intel boys can make sense of it and point him in the right direction, last thing this city needed was thugs with RPG's running around.

Alex also sent the General a private message warning him that Batgirl was close, very close, to figuring out who he was and asked for his guidance on how to proceed. He'd rather not have to fight her, but as the General told him earlier the mission takes priority. Alex was lucky enough to have avoided a fight with Robin tonight, sure he was just a kid but from what everyone hears he's a damn good fighter. Still a bit green behind the ears though, falling for that trick but hey, everyone's a boot at one point in time. Hopefully Robin would pass along that message that Alex had no ill intent towards the Bats along and we could avoid any complications in the future.

… **Mission Complete…**


	8. Chapter 8

It'd been a week since Alex sent that intel to General Anderson to be analyzed and a new assignment given to him. Things were relatively quiet while Alex waited and he hadn't gone out for any late night ops in an attempt to stay out of Batgirl's attention. The General had told Alex the same thing when he asked for his guidance, avoid contact if possible but take her out if she jeopardized the operation.

It seemed harsh at first but he guessed that's the reality of things with these types of ops, but then he got the notion that instead of hiding and potentially harming them that instead he could talk with them and make my intentions clear without implicating the government so that at least we could operate in the same AO without having to trade blows with each other and focus on a common enemy instead. The idea sounded good in his head until he remembered that they took a different stance when it came to accomplishing their goals, being that they generally frowned upon shooting the bad guys. So he put that idea on hold for now until he could actually talked with them first.

Other than that Alex focused on maintaining his cover as the friendly neighborhood recruiter. Recruiting at the library was a gold mine with it being so close to the university, he'd talked several kids into enlisting just by hanging around the front desk and socializing with the students. A part of him felt bad for suckering these kids into giving away four plus years of their life but then again it would probably do them good to become confident, disciplined individuals instead of the entitled brats' today's youth are becoming.

Staying at the library also meant spending more time with Barbara who had sort of become Alex's only friend in the city. Alex had other friends than Harleen growing up in Gotham but they've long since moved on and he wasn't exactly going out looking to rekindle any old friendships at the moment, at least not while he carried a loaded weapon. Anyways, he and Barbara seemed to be getting along well though she kept asking him questions about his training and deployments to Afghan. It was a bit odd that she was taking such an interest in his career but he just figured that she was a naturally curious person. After getting to know each other for a few more days they made plans to hangout outside of work, but just as friends, Did he like her? Yes, and she was definitely attractive, but the last girl from Gotham he had gotten close to tried to kill him, so not going to take any chances. For now, at least.

But their get together would have to wait because right now Alex was sitting in an empty Conex overlooking the shipping yards. When General Anderson finally got back to Alex on the intel he'd sent him he was immediately sent back out. The guy Dent had met with was named Viktor Ivanovsky, a former KGB operative turned arms dealer after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Generals intel guys learned that the two would be making they're next transaction at the shipping yards where Dent's gang would take ownership of several crates of Soviet arms and munitions. General Anderson had tasked Alex to break up the deal, destroy the shipment, and capture Ivanovsky alive for interrogation by the CIA. As a bonus the General would be acting as his eye in sky with UAV drone and walking him through the op.

Alex arrived an hour before the trade would be taking place, setting up in his Conex and observing the shipping yards for the best possible escape route once he had Ivanovsky in custody. Alex had brought along his usual gear with the addition of a pack full of thermite grenades on his back to destroy the weapons and ammo coming in. His plan was to sneak onto the transport barge coming in, blow the weapons, and snag Ivanovsky in the confusion. Simple enough, but nothing ever goes as planned. Once his plan was set Alex saw vehicles start pulling into the yard below.

"Overlord this is Knight, vehicles pulling in now. Requesting permission to engage, over." He called over the radio to General Anderson, or Overlord as he had dubbed himself. The General didn't want to risk exposing themselves over the radio so he had come up with these call signs for them to use before the mission.

" _Roger, you are cleared to engage. Good luck Knight."_ Came the reply and with that Alex was off.

Alex quietly made his way down the stacks of Conex's, dropping to the ground and heading towards the incoming barge. On his way there he had to take care of some of Dent's guards who had begun to patrol the perimeter, dropping them with suppressed hammer pairs (two trigger pulls, one sight picture) from his IAR. The General had told Alex that Dent was also a priority target but that he didn't need to be taken alive. Worked in his favor cause managing one EPW would be trouble enough as it was. Alex was about to reach the barge when the General contacted him again.

" _Overlord to Knight, be advised I'm seeing multiple vehicles on fast approach to your AO, ETA about five mikes."_

"Copy Overlord, is it the GCPD?"

" _Negative, we're feeding the GCPD false reports to cover you. Someone else is about to crash your party."_

"Roger that Overlord I'll handle it, Knight out." Shit, he hadn't counted on this. As long as Alex could get to Ivanovsky before these guys did he'd be fine. While he crept slowly over to the barge the guards of both parties started to tense up as the sound of engines could be heard approaching. Several of Ivanovsky's men left the barge to reinforce the others, giving Alex a window to sneak onboard. He climbed over the rail and shot another guard on the barges deck before dropping his pack and getting to work setting up the thermite grenades.

One by one Alex popped the grenades, sending molten metal burning through the weapons crates and melting whatever weapons were inside. He had just started setting up the grenades on the ammo crates when he heard shouting and gunfire from the yard and looking over he could see Ivanovsky and his men retreating for their ship. Alex quickly popped smoke on the last grenades and ran off the ship before explosions lit up the deck as the ammunition detonated from the heat of the thermite, crippling the barge. Upon seeing their ship go up in flames Ivanovsky and his men changed course and ran off into the maze of shipping crates.

"Overlord, targets destroyed! HVI one bolted I'm in pursuit, no PID on HVI two, how copy!?" Alex shouted into his mic as he gave chase.

" _Overlord copies all Knight; I'm tracking Ivanovsky heading west through the shipping crates."_

"Roger moving now!" He shouted as he ran into the firefight now raging in the shipping yard.

" _Knight I'm seeing lots of small arms fire, what's going on down there!?"_ Anderson asked frantically.

"Ivanovsky and Dent's men have been engaged by…clowns?" Alex quickly reported. It was indeed an odd sight, clowns with machineguns firing at Ivanovsky's soldiers and Dent's gangsters, Alex had never seen anything like it before.

" _Come again, did you say clowns?"_

"That's an A-firm Overlord. Clowns on site, most likely Joker's crew." If they were here Joker couldn't be far Alex thought as he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his rifle as he ran through the yards. Ivanovsky be damned, if Joker was here he was going to die.

" _Understood, they've most likely been tipped off about the exchange and are trying to get ahold of those weapons. I'm updating your objective, extract Ivanovsky and kill the Joker if you can, he's too dangerous to be left alive."_

"Wasn't planning on it Overlord."

All around Alex the three factions fought, bullets flying close overhead, as he fired his IAR at anything that got in his way as he chased down Ivanovsky. The bastard was starting to annoy Alex, leading him in circles around the yard until finally he slipped up and ran into a large group of clowns. Alex quickly stopped and ducked into an open Conex as the clowns fired at the approaching group, there were way too many clowns for him to fight off on his own.

Alex peeked out of cover and saw that the clowns had cut down Ivanovsky's guards and were surrounding the man who was now lying on the ground out of breath and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the gut. The clowns then parted revealing a man in a purple suit with pale skin and green hair. It was him, Joker in the flesh standing not even a hundred meters from Alex wielding his trademark Thompson SMG and smiling down at his newly caught prey.

He was talking to Ivanovsky but Alex couldn't hear the words over the battle raging around him but suddenly his rifle was in his shoulder, sights level with the Clown Prince's chest, and safety off. It would only take 7.6lbs of pressure to pull the trigger and end his wretched life. Finally, Alex could avenge his friend.

As he began to pull the trigger his rifle was suddenly knocked from his hands, discharging a round into the deck as it clattered onto the floor. Alex swore internally, reaching for his Berretta but was shoved out of the other side of the Conex and into another empty lot, landing on hard on his ass. He looked up at his assailant and saw that it was none other than his old friend Harleen, or Harley Quinn now he guessed, dressed in her jester costume and wielding a rather large mallet.

"Your that guy that offed poor Eddie aint ya? And now your try'n to off Mistah J? Not on my watch pal!" She says, walking over to him as he picked himself up and drew his pistol. She clearly doesn't recognize him due to the balaclava he's wearing again but Alex recognizes her well enough even with her mask and face paint. Last time they had been this close to each other had been four years ago and he had been staring at her through the sights of a rifle as she clutched her hand that was bleeding from the bullet he'd shot through it. Not this time though.

"Wow, nice to see you too, Harleen." Alex sneers, taunting her with her real name as he cocks the hammer on his pistol back. She recoils at hearing her name and stares at him confused.

"Wha? How'd ya know my name? Who are you!?" She shouts angrily, raising her mallet. Alex didn't answer her as he leveled his pistol with her and time seems to come to a halt. For the past four years he'd thought of nothing else but this moment where he'd pull the trigger and kill the monster that was making a mockery of his friend, four years of pent up anger finally about to be released with the movement of a muscle. She's charging at him now, mallet raised, ready to swing, and Alex feels his finger press against the trigger.

he was about to finish it, honest he wanted to so badly but at the last moment his talk with Barbara came to mind, when he'd said that he'd save Harleen from what she's become and in that split second Alex didn't see Harley Quinn standing before him but his friend Harleen Quinzel. As the hammers falling towards the firing pin Alex jerked his wrist up changing the path of the bullet that explodes out of the barrel sending it off harmlessly into the night. No tonight would be different...

Alex tossed his pistol to the side and threw his shoulder into Harleen, crashing them both into a pile of cardboard boxes. She quickly recovers and kicks him off of her with a grunt, reaching again for her mallet but Alex swept her legs out from under her as she stands. Once she's on the ground he scrambled to the mallet and threw it over the Conex's but then she jumped onto is back and starts pounding him with her fists. She's gotten stronger over the years Alex realized, as her punches actually hurt now. He quickly ran backwards slamming her into the side of a Conex repeatedly until she fell off his back and grasped her head, no doubt a splitting headache taking over.

With her momentary distracted Alex felt like he'd gained the upper hand but he realized too late as he approached her that she was faking and he suddenly found himself on the ground again with her straddling his waist, and his discarded pistol in her hands pointed at him.

"Ya put up a good fight guy, but it ends now." She says as she presses the muzzle against Alex's forehead and clicks the safety off. A million thoughts raced through his mind, all of them different ways that he could have prevented this scenario but as he laid there staring into her eyes he found himself not angry or sad but just tired.

"Then do it, finish what you started four years ago." He tells her. She stares back at him, stunned by his words and he sees her blink in recognition as she stares into his eyes, a look of horror spreading across her features.

"Alex?" She whispers, lowering the gun. "Is that you?" She seems surprised that it's really him and he notice that her accent is gone.

"Yeah, it's me. Long time no see." He answers, removing the balaclava and looking back up at her.

"I…I thought you'd died. Mistah J told me that you killed yourself and that it was my fault!" She cries running a hand down the side of Alex's face to see if he was real or not. It was true that he had contemplated that, but his want for revenge pushed those thoughts aside. Bastard must have gotten ahold of his records somehow and told her that he'd gone through with it though, probably to fuck up her mind even more and give her nothing to go back to.

"That bastard lied to you, but your right. I did consider it after what you did."

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd never come back?" Her face has shame written all over it and he could see that it was indeed Harleen talking to him.

"Believe me I didn't want to but plans change apparently."

"So you're…you're here to kill us?" She asks nervously.

"If I have to. Let me take Joker out and we can try to fix this Harleen!" Alex pleads hoping that she'll see reason, but her reaction is the exact opposite.

"No, no you can't! Nothing can fix what I've done!" She's panicking now and he can see that he's losing her.

"Look I don't know what that psycho did to you but he's fucked up your mind! He doesn't care for you, you're just a tool to him! Come back Harleen this isn't you!" He pleads again, trying to breakthrough to her again.

"No! You don't understand! I can't be saved! Just...just leave me to my fate!" She screams but he can see her struggling with herself as she tries to make a decision.

"That's bullshit Harleen and you know it. You think I didn't keep tabs on you all these years? I know what he's done to you, what he's made you do, and I'm not going to allow that to happen anymore! You're not evil Harleen and I will save you, one way or the other!" Alex could see it in her eyes that Harley wanted his help, but for whatever reason she wouldn't allow him to. After another second she throws the gun to the side and runs off into the maze of Conex's. Alex let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in and rested his head on the ground for a second to get ahold of himself.

After a moment he got to his feet with a grunt and collected his weapons from where they laid on the ground and walked back through the Conex he had come from. As he stepped out he noticed that the gunfire has stopped and that the yard is eerily quiet as he looked around, finding himself surrounded by the bodies of slain gangsters and clowns, shell casings and discarded weapons litter the ground and he stumbled over to where he had last seen Ivanovsky. Joker and his men must have fled once they found out the weapons shipment was destroyed and Dent was long gone. Alex foundd Ivanovsky unconscious but alive, bound his wrists together, and patched up his wound before hauling him over to an open area of the yard.

"Overlord… this is Knight…precious cargo is secure…requesting helicopter extraction at the shipping yard…how copy?" he says into the radio once he had an LZ set up.

" _Overlord copies all Knight, mark your position with smoke and standby for extract."_ Comes Overlord's reply. Alex slumped back against a Conex after tossing a green smoke grenade, exhausted from tonight's events.

While he waited he sensed that he was no longer alone and readied his rifle in case one of Dent or Joker's men comes around but he needn't have bothered as a dark figure swooped down in front of him.

"You didn't kill her." The figure says as it steps into the light revealing the Dark Knight himself.

"I…I couldn't. I wanted to, so badly but when I looked at her I saw my friend in front of my sights." Alex replied, resting his weapon back in his lap.

"Why are you doing this Sergeant? I can handle these criminals myself." Fuck, Alex realized he hadn't replaced his Balaclava and that Batman now knew his identity.

"Criminals, is that what they are? Cause the President and the DOD sees them as terrorists now and they've had enough. They brought me here because I know the city and they want me to resolve this problem permanently. Believe me I wouldn't have come if I didn't think this was the right thing to do." he says as he pushes himself off the ground and stand.

"I understand that Sergeant, but there's better ways than killing."

"And how's that worked out for you so far huh? My best friend became a psychotic criminal because Joker wasn't dealt with. As long as they're alive it'll never stop. Look I respect everything you've done and I don't want there to be any hostilities between us but there's only so much we're willing to take before we push back. I'll admit I didn't have to kill Riddler, I could have taken him alive but I needed to make a show of force and send a clear message to the other criminals that I mean business."

"Believe me Sergeant I want them off the streets as much as you do but I can't condone your methods even if they are authorized by the government. No more killing." He warns, pointing a finger at the exhausted Marine.

"I can't promise that Batman; I wish I could but I just can't. Like I said I don't want hostilities between us and the DOD isn't after you but I have orders not to let you interfere. Please understand that for the sake of you and your friend's safety we'll have to agree to disagree on my methods and leave it at that."

"I believe you Sergeant; I know you mean well and I don't want to fight you either. Perhaps we can compromise then, you try to minimize your casualties and we work together to bring them in alive."

"Yeah I can do that, so long as you keep my true reason's for being here secret from the public."

"Of course." He agrees before readying his grappling hook.

"And one last thing before you go. Do you think Harleen can be saved or is she too far gone?" Batman's had more contact with her in the past four years than Alex and he wanted to hear his opinion on the matter to help make a decision.

"I'd like to believe that she can be redeemed. She's not inherently evil like the Joker, just misguided by her infatuation with him. It'll take some work but I do believe that with time we can bring your friend back."

"Thank you Batman, that's actually very reassuring for me to hear. You should probably get going, CIA's going to be here soon and I doubt you want to be caught by them. And don't worry, I never saw you tonight."

"Of course, we'll be in touch Sergeant." He says before firing his grappling hook and disappearing into the night.

The helicopter arrives shortly afterwards; CIA agents form a perimeter around the bird to cover Alex as he throws Ivanovsky into cabin before settling into his own seat. Once they're both secure the agents load back up and they quickly fly away from the yards just as GCPD arrives on scene. The bird stops above a building a block away from Alex's apartment and he rappels down onto the roof before it flies of into the distance towards whatever base it originated from. Alex made the short walk through back alleys back home. Once inside he didn't even bother storing his gear in the armory instead just throwing it onto the chair besides his bed before lying on top of the covers. He didn't fall asleep immediately as he had hoped, the night's events replaying in his mind. He'd captured an arms dealer, came so close to killing the Joker, fought his old friend, and came to an understanding with Batman all in the span of a few hours and that was just his third mission. At least with the Bat on his side for now things would be easier, however he had failed to mention that he would most definitely by killing the Joker. How that goes over with Batman is yet to be seen but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

… **Mission Complete…**


	9. Chapter 9

"Now you're absolutely sure you want to go Infantry?" Alex asked one of the guys he had recruited earlier. It was the day after he captured Ivanovsky and Alex was already back at work getting these kids set on their career paths. he was beginning to get the hang of this recruiting thing and typing away at the computer all day helped keep his mind off of his confrontation with Harleen last night so he went ahead and threw himself into it.

"Yes Sir, I want to go out there and kill those monsters." The kid replies. He's only in his first year of college but decided to put a football scholarship on hold to fight Isis. Couldn't blame him for that at least.

"I get that I do, but I'm telling you combat isn't like it is in the movies or video games. Rounds are going to be flying overhead, people will be screaming, and there's the very real chance that you or one of your buddies could die, so I'll ask again are you sure?"

"As sure as I've ever been about anything Sir."

"Alright oh three-hundred it is, good luck to you. We'll set up a date to get you down to a MEPS soon."

"Thank you Sir, I'll see you tomorrow morning for PT."

"Yep." He say as he leaves the office. Alex turned back to his computer and started getting their packages ready when he heard the door open. "Marines, how can I help you?" He asked without looking up.

"Well first I'd like a ride to the nearest café…" A woman says and Alex looked up to see that it's Barbara.

"Aw shit, I forgot we were getting lunch, didn't I?" He replies. He didn't have the best memory as it was but with everything that had happened last night his plans with Barbara just slipped his mind.

"Kinda. Hey you don't look so well, everything alright?" It was true he looked like shit after last night but could anyone blame him?

"Yeah, just couldn't sleep last night."

"Oh, nothing bad I hope."

"No, just kept having nightmares about Afghan." It's not a complete lie, he did have nightmares about Afghan occasionally but last night he had dreamt about the fight with Harley but the dream ended with him standing over her bullet ridden corpse. After the fight last night and his earlier talk with Barbara, Alex was finding his want to just kill Harley fading and that's making things more complicated than they need to be. He'd still do it mind you, but only after all other options have been exhausted.

"Oh I didn't realize; do you want to talk about it?" She asks and he can tell that she's sincere about wanting to help but he doesn't want to scare her with any war stories.

"NO! I mean I appreciate it Barbara but I've already talked to a psychologist about it." he blurts out. "And before you ask it wasn't the crazy one." He adds and she laughs at that.

"Ha, ok I get the hint I won't ask. So, you still wanna go?"

"Yeah just give me a sec to change and I'll meet you out front." He tells her before going to the back room to change into his civilian clothes. After hanging up his uniform and changing Alex headed outside and locked up the office as Barbara waits on the side walk. Once that was done he lead her over to his Challenger and opened the passenger door for her before climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car. As they pulled out of the parking lot Alex turned on the radio and Katy Perry's _Firework_ starts playing.

"Oh bro this is my favorite!" Alex exclaimed happily as he turned the volume up.

"This, seriously?" Barbara asks with a laugh.

"Hell yeah, this is my killing song!"

"You killed people to this!?" She asks dumbfounded.

"I was listening to this song in Afghan when some Taliban goon with an RPG tried to shoot our convoy and I lit his ass up with the fifty Cal! Made him light up like the Fourth of July!"

"Oh my god, that's horrible Alex!" She cries but he can see that she's trying to hold in a laugh.

"Yeah your telling me, body parts everywhere!" He emphasizes with a wave of his hand.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!"

"Hey you wanted to know what Afghan was like remember?"

"Your just lucky that I'm used to that kinda talk with my dad's work."

"I bet, he must've seen some fucked-up shit being a cop in this city."

"Who hasn't? Murder might as well be the local pastime."

"Hey you said it not me."

"Well at least I have you to protect me."

"That's what friends are for right?" Alex says as they pull up to the front of a restaurant in downtown Gotham.

"Exactly. You let me know if anyone tries to mess with you and I'll kick their asses for you." She jokes as we walk inside.

Alex had almost forgotten what it's like to just hang out with a friend and have a good time, he loved his boys back at Pendleton but there's a noticeable difference between hanging with fellow Marine's and a civilian. It's nice to have a conversation that doesn't involve all the fucked-up shit Marines are into. They just have a good time joking about the work, her classes, and his questionable taste in music. As they finish eating Alex realized that the sun was starting to go down so he quickly paid the bill before they headed back out to the car so he could drive her home.

Alex stopped the car in front of her apartment and they got out and talked on the porch for a minute.

"Thanks for lunch Alex, I had a great time." Barbara says as they walk up to the door.

"Hey I should be thanking you, you've been a good friend to me and this is my way of saying thanks."

"So Halloween's tomorrow, you going to have the day off?"

"Man I wish, Marine Corps doesn't give us that holiday. I'll be at the office for the day but afterwards I'm free."

"Oh cool, you wanna hangout again when you're off?"

"Only if we're going trick or treating!"

"Aren't you a bit old for that?"

"What!? Never!"

"Alright, alright we'll go trick or treating. Pick you up at eight?"

"Sounds good to me, see you the…" Alex starts to say as the door suddenly opens startling both of them.

"AH HA, GOT YOU!" Yells Commissioner Gordon from the doorway.

"Oh shit Sir! You're gonna give me a heart attack!" Alex complains, placing a hand on his chest to calm his breathing.

"Ah it's just you Sergeant. Sorry I thought you were another boy that my daughters brought home."

"DAD!" Barbara exclaims as her face reddens.

"What? Wait you haven't enlisted my daughter have you." He asks, giving Alex a death glare.

"No Sir, just making sure she gets home safe." He quickly answers, relaxing the Commissioner.

"Oh, well that's different then. See Barbara why can't you find a nice respectable man like Sergeant Westbrook? I swear Sergeant, you would have killed half the boys my daughters dated."

"Oh I believe you Sir. These kids are too focused on the now and don't care about the future."

"Agh, that's enough you two! Come on inside Dad, I'm sure the Sergeant is very busy."

"What? Oh of course, thank you for looking after my daughter."

"No trouble Sir, have a good evening. See you tomorrow Barbara."

"Goodnight Alex and thank you again." She says with a smile before going inside and leaving Alex alone on the porch.

He drove home and relaxed for the evening, wasting time playing games on the Xbox late into the night before finally crashing on the couch. It'd been a surprisingly great day after the mess of last night, but hey he earned it. It wouldn't last though as he'd soon find himself thrown back into it.

 **...**

Harley was still replaying last night's events in her head. Alex was alive, here in Gotham. She could still hardly believe it even though she had seen and felt him. A several different feelings were coming over her addled mind: Happiness, relief, sadness, shame, anger. Happiness and relief that he was alive and well after all these years, shame that she'd been the cause of her childhood friend almost killing himself, and anger that he hadn't contacted her in four years to tell her he was alright and that when they finally did meet again he had said all those things about her. Harley was also pissed at Joker for lying to her about Alex's death but she'd deal with that one later.

She sat in bed for most of the day staring at the scar on her right hand, her badge of shame and constant reminder of everything she'd given up for her new life. The back of Harley's hand had a mark the size of a quarter right in the middle while the exit wound on her palm was nearly the size of a half dollar. It was sorta awkward to use her hand at times and occasionally she could still feel the burning sensation of the bullet passing through it. When it happened, it was so fast, she'd heard the crack of the gunshot and then a fraction of a second later her hand felt like it was on fire and blood splattered on the windshield causing her to panic and crash the car. Harley remembered clutching her hand tightly in an effort to stop the bleeding after Alex pulled her from the wreckage, it was the first time and only time she'd ever been shot and Harley thought she was going to die because it hurt so bad. The doctors at the hospital she was brought to after Alex handed her over to the police fixed it up but the scar wouldn't go away with time, but Harley felt that she deserved it.

Alex had looked so hurt when he learned it was Harley the whole time and she was touched by the effort he went to trying to rescue her but by then it was too late to go back. After her trial, Harley was sent back to Arkham as a patient but it was only a matter of time before Mr. J broke them out. She almost hadn't gone with him though, set on serving her time and getting out to apologize to Alex but then Joker had told her Alex had committed suicide, that it was her fault. He even had the documents from Alex's record to prove it. That had been the last thing holding Harley back and so she went with him, not out of love like when she'd released him the first time but out of having nothing worth living for. Until last night that is.

"Yoohoo! Harley I'm home!" Speak of the devil. Joker struts into the room pushing a cart filled with pumpkins and explosive components.

"You son of bitch!" Harley yelled, slapping him across the face.

"Harley what's got you so rilled up!?" He asks confused.

"You've been lyin ta me for the past four years! That's what up bub!"

"Hmm, there's so many lies though. Which one was it again?"

"My friend Alex! He's alive!"

"Alex, Alex?" He mutters pacing in a circle trying to remember. "Oh that's right, the one that foiled my escape and gave you that lovely mark! Alive is he? How is the old boy?"

"Wouldn't ya like to know!?" She spat, crossing her arms and turning her back to him.

"Come now Harley, you know any friend of yours is a friend of mine!"

"I don't think he shares those thoughts with ya. Pretty sure he wants ta put a bullet in ya head an I have half a mind ta let him!"

"Oh my, still upset is he? And I thought Batbrain could hold a grudge. Well we'll have to fix this won't we?"

"Yeah, good luck with that one pal! Go ahead and try to make friends with him, I hope he kills you!"

"Oh, we'll see about that my dear. Better men than him have certainly tried..."

… **Mission Complete…**


	10. Chapter 10

It was Halloween night and Alex had just changed into his civvies and locked up the office a couple minutes early. He stood out on the sidewalk which was eerily deserted for some reason so he played on his phone as he waited for Barbara to come and pick him up. Five minutes' passed and Alex got the feeling that he was being watched so he put his phone away and look around the street and spotted a clown standing in the alley across the street staring at him. Slightly unnerved, Alex studies the man but he looks to be unarmed so he assumed that it's one of those pranksters out early.

"Alright very funny man, you got me. Might want to get a move on though, streets are dangerous at night." He called out to him but instead of leaving he points in the direction behind Alex. He quickly turn and spot another clown behind him. Before Alex could react he was struck in the head with a frying pan and collapsed to the ground, vision blurring.

"Good work boys. Hurry up and get him in the car, our guest is late for the party." A voice says as Alex slipped into unconsciousness.

 **...**

When Alex woke up he find that his arms were tied above his head and his legs bound. Looking around Alex saw that he's in what looks to be an old barn but other than that he had no idea where he's at.

"Ah, finally our guest awakens." Says the same voice from before. "Do you have any idea what your returns doing to poor Harley? Girl's throwing fits and we can't have that." The voice says and a chill runs down Alex's spine as he realized who's talking.

"Joker. What have you done to her!" Alex shouted, worried that he's done something to harm Harley.

"Oh I've done nothing to her. Yet." He says, finally stepping where Alex can see him. "However I can't just let her insubordination go unpunished again, a military man such as yourself can understand that right?" He threatens.

"This is between us, leave her out of it." Alex growled.

"How sweet, you still have feelings for her don't you? And after everything she's done to hurt you. Well guess what boy, she's mine now and I'll do as I please with her."

"You bastard, I'm gonna kill you!" Alex yelled, but Joker just laughs at his threat.

"Really, and how will you do that all tied up?" Fuck, he's got him there. Before Alex can say anything he turns back to his clowns. "Boys I think I'm done with the good Sergeant. Take care of him would you? Oh, and Sergeant, don't worry about Harley she's in good hands." He taunts before bursting into laughter and leaving the barn as his clowns circle Alex.

"I'm gonna kill you all when I get out of here!" He warns before they all start laying into him. They throw punches and kicks all over but he doesn't give them the satisfaction of crying out. Eventually one of them lands a good hit to his head and the blow knocks Alex out again.

 **...**

So much for trick or treating tonight. Barbara had arrived at the RSS just in time to see clowns throwing Alex into the back of a van and drive off. She quickly changed into the spare suit she kept in her car and "Borrowed" a motorcycle before giving chase. Bruce would have a fit if he found out she'd taken a bike but desperate times right? Barbara followed the clowns out to the country side, far from the city, and they stopped at what looked like a large abandoned village.

Barbara parked the bike out in the woods away from the village and made the rest of the way on foot, skirting the edge of the village to avoid being seen, but the terrain was tough to navigate in the dark. As she passed the village she saw that it wasn't all that abandoned anymore, clowns had taken up residence and there was a lot of them, too many to fight on her own. It made sense that they'd hide here, it was out of the way and had been abandoned by the original residents ages ago, no one came here.

She kept pace with the clowns carrying Alex and saw them take him into a barn on the edge of the village. Barbara quickly headed for the barn but again the terrain made it difficult and it took longer than she wanted it to reach the barn. When she finally got to it she could hear the sounds of people gathering things and leaving. Peeking in through a window revealed Alex was tied up to the rafters and a lone clown with an AK stood guard over him.

Barbara quietly crept through the window and snuck up behind the clown, knocking him out with a blow to the back of the head once she reached him. Once she made sure he was tied up she set to work cutting Alex down and checking him over. He was unconscious with a likely concussion and it also looks like he had been beaten pretty bad. This was bad, no way Barbara could carry him out through that rough terrain in his condition and there were too many clowns out there to try sneaking out that way. Against her better judgement she shook Alex awake.

"Wha? Who?" He mumbled as he woke.

"Sergeant it's Batgirl. Listen I know you're hurting right now but we're stuck between a literal rock and a hard place. Can you fight?" She whispered urgently.

"Ugh, can't walk straight. Legs are fucked up." He replied.

"Damn, let me think." Barbara set him down against the wall and paced the room in thought. "Wait, you have an advisor right? Can he help?" she asked and he nodded slowly before pulling out his phone and giving it to her.

"Call…Anderson." He says slowly as he starts to pass out again.

"Hey hey, don't sleep you'll hurt yourself even more!" She warned him and he struggles to stay awake. After making sure he's awake Barbara unlocked his phone, having seen his passcode earlier, and call Anderson.

" _Sgt what's going on? I thought I gave you the night off?"_ Anderson asks, surprised to have been called at this hour.

"Uh, Sir this is Batgirl speaking. Sergeant Westbrook got ambushed by clowns. I got to him but we're stuck in an abandoned village in the country side, he's in a bad way. Can you help!?" She quickly explains.

" _Damn it. Yes, I can help, you got a radio?"_

"Yes!"

" _Switch to frequency Zulu One-Five-Nine-Three, we'll talk there."_ He tells her before hanging up. Barbara gave Alex his phone back and switched the radio frequency to the on Anderson gave her.

" _This is Overlord can you hear me?"_ Anderson asks once she tuned in.

"Yes! We need help asap!" She repeated.

" _I'm working on that now; help should be arriving soon. Stay on this freq and hold until they arrive."_

"Got it."

" _And Batgirl, get my Marine home in one piece."_

"Yes Sir." She replied before looking back to Alex who is becoming more conscious. Barbara went back to the clown and retrieved his AK and spare mag, giving them to Alex. Normally she wouldn't have but given his condition it would be all he has to defend himself.

A couple more minute's pass before she started to hear the faint sound of an aircraft flying overhead and suddenly the radio comes on again.

" _Bravo Golf this is AC-130 gunship Specter 6/4 entering your airspace now can you identify yourself?"_ A new voice asks over the radio. Man, when Anderson said he was getting help he meant it. Basically he had called in a flying weapons platform with enough firepower to level a town to save them.

"Yes, I have an IR strobe. Switching it on now." She informed the gunship, switching the strobe on her belt on.

" _Roger we see you. Be advised thermals showing thirty plus foot mobiles near your position. Stay in cover and move when we tell you, we'll guide you out. Overlord are we clear to engage?"_

" _Specter 6/4 you are cleared hot. Engage at your own discretion and bring our guys home."_

" _Roger. Team lets show them our bag of tricks."_

Suddenly there was a sound like a thunder clap from the sky and the building in the center of the village exploded as a shell from the gunships canon detonated inside of it.

" _Move to the building across from you, we'll cover."_ The gunship ordered. Barbara quickly helped Alex stand and wrapped his arm over her shoulders while she supported his back. He tucked the AK under his arm and nodded that he was ready to move. The two quickly stepped out of the barn and moved as fast as they could across the street.

" _Standby, technical to your eleven. Gunner take it out."_

Barbara peeked around the corner and spotted a pick-up truck with a machinegun mounted on the bed just as a burst of machinegun fire shredded the engine block and the clown unfortunate enough to be behind the gun.

" _Good effects on target, proceed to the water tower by the church._

They turned the corner and spotted the church and water tower they had mentioned and headed towards it just as clowns stormed out of the church. To his credit Alex fired his weapon at the clowns while we moved but since he was only using one arm his shots went wide and only grazed the clowns who quickly returned fire.

"Specter 6/4 we're pinned down by clowns at the church, help us out!" Barbara yelled as she threw them behind a fountain for cover.

" _Negative Bravo Golf, we aren't authorized to fire on the church. Lure them away and we can engage."_

Damn! Barbara looked to Alex who nodded at her before propping his AK on the lip of the fountain. Taking a deep breath Barbara charged out of cover and sprinted across the length of the street to the other end as Alex fired at the clowns forcing them to chase after her.

" _Standby, firing danger close!"_

The booms of a grenade launcher firing filled the air and the clowns chasing Barbara suddenly ceased to exist as the rounds exploded. Once the smoke cleared all that was left were smoldering craters formed where they had been standing seconds ago.

" _You're clear past the church. Recommend taking the side routes, main road is crawling with bad guys."_

Barbara ran back to Alex and resumed helping him walk, taking the side roads as the gunship recommended. They were in luck as the routes were clear of clowns but they could hear them shouting to each other from the main road as another thunder clap was heard followed by another explosion that silenced the shouts.

" _Bravo Golf we've spotted transportation by a house at the edge of the village, two hundred meters west of your current location. The village looks cleared of hostiles but we'll keep eyes on you till your clear."_

"Thanks 6/4, heading there now."

The two changed course and sure enough came across an old SUV, the doors were unlocked and the keys stashed in the visor. Barbara helped Alex into the passenger seat before sitting behind the driver's seat and starting the vehicle. Quickly throwing the SUV in drive and pulling out of the village and onto the road, Barbara put as much distance between them and the village as possible.

"6/4 we're clear of the village, thanks for the help."

" _Been a pleasure Bravo Golf. Give our regards to your friends, we're always rooting for you guys. Specter 6/4 out."_

The gunship then made a show of flying low and flashing its lights before gaining altitude and flying off into the night. As far as Halloween's go this was definitely the most exciting, though Bruce was going to kill Barbara when he found out she had left a village smoldering, even if it was abandoned. She was sure he would understand once he saw Alex's condition though.

Once they got closer to the city Barbara used the side roads to get back to the Wayne manor, having Alex shut his eyes as they neared the area. Barbara called Alfred and told him the situation before arriving and he waited for them outside. He then helped her bring Alex, who still had his eyes shut, down to the Batcave to start going over his injuries. While Alfred tended to Alex, Barbara sat back in a nearby chair and caught her breath.

"Rough night?" Bruce asked from behind her. She turned around to see him in his Batsuit, a scowl on his face.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"So tell me, why am I hearing that a gunship was conducting a live fire exercise on an abandoned village where an unfortunate group of criminals belonging to Jokers crew just happened to be hiding out?" Damn, he knew already.

"Look, the terrain around the village was dangerous and he can hardly move without falling over. What was I supposed to do!?" Barbara saw no use in trying to deny it.

"You should have called me. But instead you got the military involved and now thirty people are dead."

"I just asked for help, how was I supposed to know they would call a damn gunship!"

"And what's worse is you brought him here of all places. You could have just compromised everything we've worked for."

"Why are you treating me like the bad guy!? I saved his life!"

"I see that but you blatantly disregarded everything I taught you to do it. I'm placing you on suspension."

"What!"

"You heard me. Go home, Alfred and I will take care of Sergeant Westbrook and return him home when he's better."

"Arg! You know what… Gah, forget it!"

What was supposed to be a fun night had turned into a disaster. Barbara wouldn't admit it but Bruce was right, she had screwed up by asking for help from a black ops cell and now she was paying for it. Whatever, Alex was back in one piece and that's what mattered.

 **...**

"I see your still alive, so either ya chickened out or ya managed to kill him." Harley spat at Joker once he got back.

"Your friend doesn't play fair, Batgirl and a damned gunship!"

"Ha, it's different when someone's actually trying to kill ya back aint it!?" Harley mocked before Joker suddenly knocked her to the ground with a punch to the face.

"I don't have to take this from you! You ungrateful little brat, I made you who you are!" He shouted down to her as she held her face in agony.

"You're a real bastard, ya know that! Ta think I fell for you one time..."

"That's because you're a fool, stupid girl! You belong to me now, not him! So don't go getting any ideas!"

"I'll have whateva ideas I want!" Harley shouted back. She was going to continue when Joker drew his .44 Magnum and pointed the muzzle towards her face.

"Such a nuisance, why do I even bother with you..." He sneered. Harley shut her eyes and waited for the bang signaling the end to her life but all she heard was a faint _"Click"_ followed by maniacal laughter. She looked up to see a red flag with BANG! written on it emerge from the revolvers barrel. Not wanting to risk the second round being real she quickly got up and pushed past the Joker, making a beeline for the nearest exit and out into the night.

She needed to see Alex, try to explain herself to him but she had no idea where to find him so instead she settled for putting distance between herself and the deranged clown she worked for. Deciding to seek shelter with the one other person who could help her, Harley began to make her way to Poison Ivy's hideout when she passed by the Armed Forces Recruitment Center. She stopped in front of the Marines office to find to her luck _"Sergeant Alexander Westbrook"_ written on the window. Harley smiled to herself, now knowing where to find him before resuming her trip to Ivy's place, already beginning to plan how she would go about meeting her long lost friend.

… **Mission Complete…**


	11. Chapter 11

_When he woke up Alex expected it to be in the cold and dark of Batman's subterranean hideout but instead he felt a scorching heat and felt heavily weighed down. When he opened his eyes he found himself staring out into the desert, wearing a full combat load and cradling an M16A4 rifle in his arms._

" _Hey Westbrook, eyes forward!" A voice yells at him. Alex turned around to see his old squad leader and a patrol of grunts behind him._

" _Aye Sergeant!" He replied. Alex resumed walking and looked forward spotting his friend Daniels swinging the metal detector ahead of him. "Daniels you've been at it for a minute, change out with me!"._

" _I'm good for a bit more bro." He replied and Alex felt his frustration rising._

" _I'm serious dude, change out!" He tried again._

" _Westbrook I'm fine, jus…" BOOM! There's a flash of light followed by an explosion, knocking Alex on his back from the force of the detonation, ear's ringing and vision hazy. There's shouting coming from the patrol now but it's partially drowned out by the pops of gunfire coming from a nearby village._

 _Alex's squad leader yelled at him to suppress the village with his M16 but all he can think about is Daniels. Alex got up and ran to wear he last saw him and found Daniels lying in a pool of blood a few meters away with both legs blown off at the knee from the explosion._

" _Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Alex started applying tourniquets to his legs but the blood just kept coming and he heard Daniels having trouble breathing. Ripping off the front of his flak reveals shrapnel wounds so he start treating those but as he's doing so he notices that his movements have stopped. Alex looked at Daniel's face only to have his eyes stare blankly back at him and he fell backwards in shock._

" _And how does that make you feel?" A new voice asks. The sounds of screaming and gunfire have stopped and Alex was no longer in the Afghan desert. Instead he's laying back on a couch, gear gone and a feeling of grief overwhelming him. Looking over to where the new voice originated from reveals Harleen sitting in a chair next to him, note pad in hand and waiting for his response._

" _I don't know. Sometimes when I close my eyes I can still hear it, pop pop pop, just constantly in my ears." He answered and she frowns._

" _I told you going over there would fuck you up but ya didn't listen ta me did ya!?" She shouts and Alex noticed the shift in her accent. He's no longer on the couch but instead strapped down to a chair in a circular room. "Your clearly suffering from PTSD and in my opinion as a doctor I recommend ya undergo electroshock therapy." She says, walking over to the lever in her jester suit._

" _Wait don't!" He managed to shout but she just grins cruelly at him and throws the switch. Blinding pain courses through him for what feels like an eternity but just as soon as it starts it's over. Alex opened his eyes to see that Harley's gone and that he's no longer tied down just as an explosion goes off somewhere inside the building._

 _Alex got up and rushed out the door, his only thought being that Harley's somewhere here and in danger. The cell block is in chaos when he arrived, guards are trying to restrain the patients but that doesn't concern him. Alex spotted Joker and his jester accomplice, who's face he coudn't make out clearly for some reason, holding Harleen hostage and making a run down the hall towards the exit and he gives chase, pistol in hand. Funny, he didn't remember grabbing it but regardless he fired a few shots off at Joker's retreating form._

 _Alex got to the exit and suddenly he's in the back of a squad car, rifle in hands, and chasing after Joker and his accomplice down the streets of Gotham. Alex set the rifle to burst fire and started taking shots at the car's tires to try and slow them down. He got off a few bursts but trying to fire accurately from a moving vehicle at high speeds is difficult. One of his rounds must've gone wide as he saw blood splatter on the windshield before the driver loses control and flips the vehicle._

 _The car stopped and Alex rushed over to the wreck, weapon up and finger on the trigger. Arkham security's already gotten to work on pulling Joker out so he moved over to the driver's side and grabbed the woman by the hood of her costume and yank her out. In doing so he ripped the hood off, revealing blond hair._

 _The women was unusually quiet and her body limp. It only took Alex one look at her face to figure out why; the bullet that was supposed to go through her hand had instead made its way through the back of her skull and exited through her forehead._

 _Alex stared in horror at what he'd done; however unintentional he had just killed his best friend. Laughter burst out from behind him and Alex turned to see Joker cackling madly at him._

" _You see Sergeant, it's not me who you should worry about harming her. No, it's yourself. You think you can save her from me, but in doing so you'll kill her. She'll be another name on the growing list of people you've failed to save and just like Daniels she'll be forgotten by the world. And then you'll die, knowing that you've failed."_

"Sergeant wake up!"

Alex snapped back to reality with a jolt to find himself back in the Batcave, Batman standing over him with a concerned look on what he could see of his face.

"You were stirring violently, are you alright?" he asks.

"I…no. I just had a very vivid reality check."

"How so?"

"I dreamt of Afghan, then Arkham. I've had these dreams before but this time it was different, I saw myself…killing Harley in the car chase and then Joker was taunting me, saying that I'd only end up killing her if I tried to save her."

"Hmm, sounds like your subconscious is feeding off your anxiety and playing tricks on you. I wouldn't take any stock in that if I was you."

"But what if it's right and I really do end up killing her?"

"If you start doubting yourself now you'll never know, will you? You can save her, and we'll help you do it, but you need to have faith in yourself."

"Your right, fuck am I thinking like that for? I'm a fucking Marine, and you know what Marines do!? Kill the enemy and get shit done! Hell yeah, I'm motivated now! Let's get out there and fight some bad guys!" Alex proudly declared, jumping out of bed before remembering that his legs were still fucked up and falling over.

"Maybe you should rest a few more days first Sergeant."

"Ugh, you know what…your probably right. Help please?" He agreed as Batman reaches down to help him up.

"Come on I'll drop you off at home." He says as he walks Alex over to the Batmobile. When they get to the vehicle Alex remembered that he'd forgotten something.

"Hey, where's Batgirl at?" He asked, wanting to thank her for saving his ass.

"She's on temporary suspension."

"Oh, well can you tell her I said thank you. I'd probably be dead if she hadn't come for me."

"You can tell her yourself. I'll have her check up on you at your apartment later."

"Yeah that's fine…hey wait, how do you know where I live!?" Alex asked alarmed but Batman just stares at him with a blank expression.

"Come on Sergeant, I'm Batman."

… **Mission Complete…**


	12. Chapter 12

A little over a week had passed since Batgirl rescued Alex from Jokers thugs out in the countryside and after taking some days to recover he was feeling much better, being able to walk and run without any pain or soreness whatsoever. Just as Batman had said Batgirl had visited him at his apartment and Alex had thanked her for helping him to which she had said that it wasn't a problem. When asked about her suspension she only said that Batman was just being stuck in his ways about how she handled the situation. Other than that, they came to the same understanding that Alex had made with Batman earlier; he would cut back on his use of lethal force and in turn she helps him capture the bad guys. A win-win in Alex's opinion.

Anyways, being as Alex could move about freely it was back to work at the RSS but seeing as it was the Marine Corps birthday today would be a special day. Alex invited Barbara to join him and the Poolees for morning PT and she had to his surprise agreed. Currently they were running down the streets by GCU, singing cadences to wake the student population up early.

" **Back in seventeen seventy-five…"**

"… **My Marine Corps came alive!"**

" **First there came the color green…"**

" **To show the world that we are mean!"**

" **Next there came the color blue…"**

" **To show the world that we are true!"**

" **Then there came the color gold…"**

" **To show the world that we are bold!"**

" **Last there came the color red…"**

" **To show the world the blood we shed!"**

They finished the run back at the RSS totaling at a run of about five miles, breaking off about most of the Poolees however Barbara seemed to be just fine after the run. Alex decided to finish off the PT with a pyramid of pull-ups before sending the kids off to go to their classes.

"Do you guys always sing about killing things?" Barbara asked once all the Poolees had left.

"Mmm, pretty much yeah. What you didn't like the one about crushing the little yellow birdie?"

"That was actually kinda funny, guess nothing is safe from you guys."

"We're equal opportunity warfighters. So, since Halloween was kind of a bust I was wondering if you wanted to celebrate the birthday with me? I'm not going to the ball this year so I was just gonna celebrate on my own."

"Yeah you definitely owe me for that, pick me up at eight?"

"Sounds like a plan, see you then." He says before she leaves. Once she's gone Alex showers and changes over into his woodland fatigues before going over more paperwork on the computer. He managed to kill a couple of hours and it's around noon when he hears the door open.

"Marines, how can I help you?" He asked, once again not looking up to see who it is. though he really should pay attention to who walks in though cause the voice that speaks makes his stomach drop.

"Look I know we fought earlier but I really need to talk to you." The voice says. Without looking up Alex quickly grabbed the 12-gauge shotgun he kept under the desk and points it at Harley Quinn. She's in normal civilian clothes and a quick once over reveals that she's not carrying any weapons that he can see.

"Back the fuck up!" He shouts, keeping the shotgun level with her chest. Yeah he know how this looks, pointing a shotgun at her when he wants to help her but he have no idea what her intentions are. She could be wearing a suicide vest for all he knew!

"Whoa whoa, calm down Alex! I'm not here to fight with you!" She says, raising her hands to placate him but he keeps the shotgun up anyways.

"First off its Sergeant, only my friends call me Alex." He tells her and he can tell that those words hurt. "Secondly, how dare you just walk in here and think you can talk to me like we're still buddy-buddy after all the shit you've put me through." Alex knows that he sounds like a dick but he really needed to get that off his chest before his finger _accidentally_ slipped and pulled the trigger.

"I…I know I've made some mistakes, but I thought you were dead! Now that I know your alive… I really need to talk to you." She says and he can tell she's serious.

"Talk then." He tells her, using the shotguns muzzle to point to the chair behind her.

"I've been thinking about what you said back at the shipping yard, how you wanted ta me. I...I need ta let ya know that ever since that night four years ago my life has been one big joke..." She starts to explain.

"A joke, right? Cause hurting and killing innocent people is a joke. Tell me, was it a joke when I shot you? Was it funny when I spiraled into depression and had to get psychiatric help for suicide? You were a smart person last I remembered so I find it very hard to believe that your completely oblivious to what you've been doing." Alex scolded.

"I… I know, ok? Truthfully the whole dumb, love-struck sidekick thing is an act. I'm very aware of the things I've done, what I've become… at first I just wanted to help him because I thought I loved him, I convinced myself that I could cure him. Then that night happened and I hurt you, I realized my mistake but then I was told you were dead and I thought I had nothing to go back to. I felt resigned to the path I had started on, surrendered to it and found joy in it. Sure, I get beat around sometimes but that's my punishment for being what I am, a criminal. But now that you're here… things are different. I know you're angry with me, but I want you to know that I'm sorry for everything." She admits. So all of this, is some form of self-punishment? Oh, lord she is a few rounds short of a full magazine, isn't she?

"Anger doesn't even describe what I've felt for you these past years. Every night I dreamt of putting a bullet through your skull, the only reason I didn't kill you last week was because my new friend put the damn idea that I could save you into my head and made me realize that despite everything you've done I still care about you." Alex admitted, all traces of anger fading as he lowers the shotgun.

"No don't say that, I don't deserve that!" Harley cries.

"Harleen, we can fix this if you just let me get rid of the Joker. Tell me where he is and I can end this."

"I…I can't. I'm sorry but this is my mess to fix..."

"Damn it don't do this, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"And I'll have deserved it."

"I won't let you throw your life away like this, it was a mistake to have given up on you before but I will save you!"

"I'm so sorry Alex, But it's too late for that."

She suddenly grabs the muzzle of the shotgun and uses it to pull Alex over the desk before running out the door. By the time he gets up and outside she's long gone...

 **...**

Barbara was surprised when Alex picked her up from her apartment, she had expected it to be a casual evening but he had worn his Dress Blues to celebrate the occasion. She quickly ran upstairs to change into more appropriate attire while her dad traded more war stories with Alex while he waited. Barbara decided on a simple dress and headed back downstairs to find that her dad had busted out his old ribbon stack to compare with Alex's.

"Well, I'm ready to go whenever you are Alex." She says trying to leave as quickly as possible.

"Oh no, not without pictures first." Her dad says and Barbara groans quietly to herself.

They let her dad take a few quick pictures before finally heading out for dinner at an expensive restaurant downtown. Apparently, Gotham was more patriotic than she thought as their meal had been paid for by one of the other patrons. It was all very nice but the real celebration didn't start until they got back to Alex's apartment.

"So how does the birthday work exactly?" Barbara asked, having never witnessed the Marines birthday before.

"Well usually we have a cake cutting ceremony. The first piece is given from the oldest Marine present to the youngest to symbolize the passing of knowledge. Then General John A. Lejeune's birthday message is read followed by an address from our current Commandant. Finally, we end the evening with a banquet and dancing. Then all the Marines go get drunk at the nearest bar. Hey don't give me that look, we were formed in a tavern what do you expect?"

"That's very formal of you, and here I thought you were all mindless killing machines."

"Hey, we take tradition seriously. Every Marine, no matter where they are celebrates the birthday."

"Well let's get started, I'm anxious to see you act formally for once."

Alex then goes to the fridge and pulls out a small cake, placing it on the counter before using his ceremonial NCO sword to cut the cake into quarters. He takes a piece and hands it over to Barbara.

"I know you're not a Marine but hopefully you've learned a thing or two from all the time we've spent together." He jokes as She accept the cake.

He then read off General Lejeune's birthday message and played General Neller's address to the Marines on the TV. They'd already eaten so they skipped the banquet part and moved onto the dancing portion. One wouldn't think it possible but you can indeed break dance in Dress Blues, but apparently, it was a common thing to see during the Marine Corps Ball, as Alex was currently demonstrating. Once they got tired of dancing around the apartment they called Alex's friends from Camp Pendleton, Alex drunkenly sang the Marines hymn, and ended up sitting at the counter for a few drinks. Alex told Barbara the story of his friend Daniels and poured a drink in honor of him. It was touching, to see the love Marines had for one another. It made them seem more relatable. It was getting late and the festivities had passed so they decided to end the night with a toast.

"To my fallen brothers and sisters who gave their lives in service of this great country, may we remember and honor their sacrifice. Semper Fidelis." Alex began.

"To the Marines currently deployed overseas, may you look after one another and come home safely." Barbara added.

"Here's to another year of excellence." Alex finishes and they both raised their glasses before downing the drinks. Once Barbara's glass was empty she looked over at Alex and smiled.

"Happy birthday Alex."

… **Mission Complete/ Happy Birthday Marines…**


	13. Chapter 13

" _Sergeant your tip on the Iceberg Lounge paid off, we've got an informant on the inside now and they've just given us Harvey Dent's location. He's holed up in an apartment complex in Old Gotham, sending you the coordinates now. Be advised this is a kill/capture mission, prosecute the target as you see fit. Overlord out."_

Alex's phone buzzed as he received the coordinates to Dent's hideout and was surprised that it wasn't that far from his own apartment. It would be easy for him to just go in guns blazing and kill the man but he figured he might as well make good on his "arrangement" and get ahold of the bats for help, purely for a show of good faith.

So, he ended up making the drive to the bat signal and switching it on before waiting around for someone to arrive. Alex was expecting either Batman or Batgirl to show up but instead it was Robin who answered the call.

"I'm surprised you're asking for help Sergeant, figured you wouldn't want us getting in the way." Robin said once he saw it was Alex making the call.

"Hey Batgirl did right by me the other night and I made a promise to you all that I intend to follow through on. Now I've got a lead on Two-Face's location and have orders to bring him in, you interested?"

"You bet, let's go!" He replied excitedly and Alex couldn't help but admire his enthusiasm, reminded him of himself when he was a boot.

They climbed down from the roof and drove over to Old Gotham, Alex briefing Robin on the situation as they went before parking in an alley a block away from the building. Alex went around to the truck and removed a shotgun, loading it with ammunition.

"I like to keep this for close encounters." He joked as he pumped the first shell into the chamber.

"I thought you weren't going to be killing anyone?" Robin complained.

"Man you guys are jumpy; you see a gun and instantly think I'm going to kill someone. First I can use a gun with lethal ammunition and NOT kill someone. Secondly this is loaded with rubber riot control ammo, so it'll hurt like a bitch but won't kill anyone." Alex explained, showing him a shell so he could see it was non-lethal. The shotgun may have been loaded with non-lethal, but the pistol strapped to his leg was loaded with live ammunition, just in case.

"Alright, sorry I doubted you. How do you wanna play this?" He asked and Alex looked up at the building in thought.

"Let's go in through the ground floor, clear our way up and box them in on the roof." He answers and Robin nods his head in agreement.

"Sounds like a plan, after you Sergeant." He says before walking into the building getting ready by the first door.

"I'll go in first, watch for civilians and stay out of my line of fire. Kick the door when you're ready." Alex whispered and again he nods in agreement. Alex settled the shotgun in his shoulder and nodded that he was ready. Robin kicked the door in and Alex quickly rushed inside, sweeping the room with his shotgun and seeing that the only occupants were civilians. Lowering the shotgun, Alex grabbed the first guy he saw.

"Two-Face, what room is he in?" He quietly demand, scaring the man.

"He…he's on the third floor, don't hurt us man!" He answered before Alex dropped him.

"You enjoy your night and I was never here, got it?" He warned as he leave and the civvies quickly shake their heads. "He's on the third floor, let's move!" He informed Robin and they quickly take the elevator up.

As the doors open on the third floor the two were immediately engaged by some of Dent's thugs. They must have heard the commotion downstairs and were expecting them. Alex quickly pushed Robin against the wall before firing two shells from his shotgun down the hall, the rubber pellets causing the goons to writhe on the floor in pain.

From there he and Robin split up, each of them taking a side of the hallway and clearing the rooms until eventually meeting up in the last room.

"You find him!?" Alex asked once he finish flexi cuffing the last thug.

"No, he must've bailed!"

"Damn it, I'm not letting him slip away from me again!" He shouts just as he heard the sound of an engine revving down below. Looking out the window Alex saw Dent in his car getting ready to take off. Neither his shotgun or pistol would stop the car, he needed something bigger. That's when Alex remembered that Dent had come into possession of some RPG's a while back and he quickly located one.

Robin and Alex quickly ran back outside and onto the street just as Dent turned out of the parking lot. Alex took a knee and loaded a rocket into the launcher before sighting in on the rear of Dent's car.

"Might wanna cover your ears kid, this is gonna be loud!" He shouted to Robin, who quickly plugged his ears.

Alex let the car get about a hundred meters ahead of him before firing, the rocket punched through the back of the car and detonated inside the truck flipping it head first onto it's roof.

"Overlord this is Knight, target vehicle is down and I'm moving to detain now, over." He informed General Anderson who was monitoring from his UAV Drone.

" _Roger that, will pick the target up at the shipping yards. Knight be advised GCPD has been alerted and are on their way now, recommend you speed things up down there."_

"Roger that, I'll be out of here shortly." Alex and Robin moved up to the flipped vehicle, shotgun back in Alex's hands and pointed at the driver's side as they moved.

When they got to the car Robin pulled Dent out and checked him over for injuries but the man was only unconscious. He then handcuffed him before Alex slung his shotgun and picked Dent up in a fireman's carry, quickly making his way back to where he had parked the car. Alex passed Dent off to Robin who placed him in the back seat while he stowed his weapons in the trunk.

With Dent and his gear secured Alex drove back to the shipping yards where he had interrupted the arms exchange previously and pulled up to the awaiting Black Hawk and CIA team. The spooks then took Dent from his custody and secured him in the helicopter before flying off to whatever black site they had come from, leaving Alex and Robin standing on the yards by themselves.

"Good work Kid, Batman sure does have an eye for talent." Alex complimented, having been impressed with the skills the boy had displayed tonight.

"You to Sergeant, it was a pleasure working with you." He replies happily.

"Hey, I meant what I told you when we first met; you ever get tired of this when your older there's a spot in the Marines waiting for you."

"Ha, I don't think I'll ever get tired of this, thanks for the offer though. Later Sergeant." He says before taking off. He's a good kid, got a lot of potential in him, Alex thinks to himself. He looked around the yard for a second before heading home for a well-deserved rest.

… **Mission Complete…**


	14. Chapter 14

"Ow! Hey asshole that one hurt!" Alex complained, rubbing his leg where he'd been hit.

"Then don't get hit!" Barbara smirked, bringing her training staff up again.

It was past dark and the two were up on Alex's roof sparring with weapons, Barbara teaching him methods other than resorting to guns. Alex interpreted it as using guns, just without bullets in the chamber. Barbara had her staff and he had attached a rubber training bayonet to his IAR. He had initially charged her, hoping he'd be fast enough to get in a quick stab but she had just batted his rifle away and smacked him in the thigh rather hard with her staff.

"Oh, I'll get you, just wait." He said bringing the point of his bayonet up again.

They circled each other for a minute, he was going to let her make the first move this time. Barbara came at him with a jab intended for his stomach but he rolled out of the way, slashing the back of her knee as he did so. The strike had its intended effect and she went down to a knee giving him the opportunity to jam the rubber knife into her back, twisting it for good measure.

"Alright alright, get off me!" She protested as he placed his boot on her spine in triumph.

"Say the magic word."

"Ugh, please get off my spine." Barbara groaned and he removed his foot and offered his hand to help her up but instead of getting up she yanked him down with her and pinned him to the roof with her own boot on his chest.

"Ha ha, got ya!" She laughed to herself but he cleared his throat to get her attention. Barbara looked down to see that he now had his pistol in hand pointed towards her face.

"Actually, I still win." He declared, pulling the trigger and letting the hammer fall on an empty chamber resulting in a faint _Click_.

"Cheater."

"All's fair in war man."

"Whatever, I still had you."

"Yeah, well hand to hand aint my thing, I'd take a rifle over a melee weapon any day."

"You'll get the hang of it eventually." She tells him as his phone starts ringing.

"One sec." he says before answering his phone. He's on the phone for some time, no doubt receiving intel on another of Gotham's villains from his advisor. Eventually he hangs up the phone and turns back to his friend.

"Got some intel; apparently, some municipal workers were attacked by something while working on the cities plumbing in the sewers earlier today, command thinks its Killer Croc. I've got the location of where they were attacked."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Just give me a minute to gear up and we'll go." He says, heading back inside the apartment.

Once inside he opens the large door to his armory and she follows him inside, looking around the room and taking note of everything inside. The room is slightly larger than the average bedroom, weapon cages line the walls and a single work table sits in the center. The weapons cages are filled with various weapons from compact handguns to large machineguns however one weapon isn't sitting in a cage, rather it's mounted on the far wall as if it's on display. It's an M16 series rifle, an older model from the looks of it, but what makes it stand out is that it has the words PROPERTY OF ARKHAM ASYLUM stamped into the lower receiver.

"That's the rifle I used to stop Joker from escaping Arkham." Alex said from behind her and Barbara realized she'd been staring at it for a while. "It was taken as evidence for the trial and handed over to my battalion as a thank you from Arkham afterwards were it sat in the commander's office, gathering dust. General Anderson had it brought here and mounted as a reminder of what I have to be willing to do."

"Doesn't it seem odd having it here, I mean it was part of a bad experience for you, wasn't it?" She asked and he just shrugs.

"Why? It didn't do anything, I did. That's just a piece of aluminum, steel, and polymer. It doesn't make decisions, I do, and I own my decisions."

"I wasn't judging, just thought it would bring up bad memories seeing it all the time."

"Thanks for your concern but I'm good and we should get back to the matter at hand."

"Right, finding Croc shouldn't be hard. Easy day, right?"

"Oh man you had to say it, didn't you?" He groaned.

 **...**

"Easy fuckin day right!?" Alex shouted, reloading his IAR behind cover after firing off an entire mag.

Things hadn't gone exactly as planned. They'd gotten to the sewers just fine but apparently, they weren't the only ones after Croc. Soldiers in black uniforms were also down here and intent on getting to Croc before they did and they weren't too happy about them being in their way. Normally Barbara could handle the average armed thug but these guys were well equipped and had the training to effectively use their gear. Alex had asked his advisor if there were any other ops going on, thinking that they'd accidentally stumbled into another team, but General Anderson didn't know who these guys were either.

"We gotta get past these guys if we want to get to Croc first!" Barbara shouted over the gunfire at Alex, throwing a concussive batarang down the sewer at the soldiers moving towards them.

"I'll draw their fire, you move up and flank them!" He ordered, loading a drum mag into his weapon. He had been making good on his promise of not shooting anyone so far, even with live ammunition he had only fired to force the soldiers into cover so she could get in close and take them out of the fight.

Alex grimaced in disgust as he went prone in the murky water, deploying his weapons bipod to keep it stable as he fired. He held up his off hand and counted down to three with his fingers before opening up with his weapon, the muzzle reports echoing of the walls loudly in the enclosed space and forcing the Soldiers into cover while Barbara took a side route around. When she reached the soldiers they had split up, one group going further into the tunnels after Croc while the other stayed behind to hold them off.

There were only four of them trading fire with Alex as Barbara crept up behind the nearest one to her, taking him by surprise and knocking him out with a blow to the back of his head. She then moved onto the next one, relieving him of his rifle and throwing him into his buddy taking them both out of the fight. The last one caught on though, quickly turning on his heel and firing a hammer pair from his rifle at her chest, knocking her to the ground and taking the wind out of her. Barbara felt the Kevlar plates that made up her suit crack from the force of the rounds, the armor being made to absorb the energy of the average pistol round and not military grade munitions.

Barbara grabbed her chest and groaned as the soldier stood over her, rifle aimed at her head. He glared at Barbara and she could see his finger curl around the trigger of his rifle and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see the muzzle flash. A shot echoed through the sewer but instead of having her brains blown to oblivion Barbara suddenly felt a heavy weight crash into her. She opened her eyes to see the soldier slumped over on top of her, Alex standing a foot behind where he had been a second ago with smoke emitting from his weapons barrel. Rolling the soldier off of her revealed a bullet wound through his forehead, killing the man instantly.

She couldn't help it, Barbara rolled over the other way and threw up into the murky water. She'd seen dead bodies before, hell she's seen people blown apart by a gunship, but this…this had been up close and personal.

"God, you killed him!" She cried.

"There wasn't any other choice, he'd have killed you if I hadn't." He explained. She knew he was right, but still it was unnerving.

"I…Your right, thanks." She said as he helped her up and examined her armor, thankfully it had taken the brunt of the damage but it would definitely need to be replaced.

"Come on we gotta move!" He urged, motioning with his weapon down the tunnel the other soldiers had gone down.

They followed the tunnel they had taken and found them just in time to see them forcing an enraged Croc into a metal cage with cattle prods. Alex didn't waste a second before firing at the soldiers, wounding two of them, but they had already succeeded in capturing Croc and were in the process of extracting him. Barbara threw another concussive batarang, scattering more of the soldiers and was about to throw another when she felt a sharp, burning, explosion of pain in her neck, causing her to drop and grab at her neck. The material that attached her cowl to the rest of the suit wasn't rated to stop bullets and as such whatever round hit had torn through it like wet paper. When she pulled my hand away Barbara saw that it was covered in blood and she quickly replaced it, panic setting in as worry that her carotid artery had been severed set in. Having seen her go down, Alex threw a fragmentation grenade down the tunnel to dissuade the soldiers from coming after them and raced over to her, pulling Barbara behind cover and out of the water.

"Let me see, let me see!" He shouted urgently and Barbara reluctantly removed her hand. She could feel more blood oozing out and Alex quickly replaced her hand before digging through his IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) for the needed medical supplies. Once the supplies were gathered he moved to remove her cowl, but Barbara quickly protested.

"I know you value your secrecy but if I don't get direct contact with the wound you will die!" He pleaded urgently with her.

Damn, this is so not how Barbara wanted Alex to find out she was Batgirl, if she ever had at all. Would he still trust her after learning the truth? Or would he think that she had befriended him just to spy on him, which admittedly, she had at first. But things were different now, Barbara genuinely valued his friendship and didn't want to lose it over this. Regardless of how she felt personally she knew he was right as she could still feel blood trickling out between her fingers and her vision was starting to get hazy so she reluctantly nodded for him to go ahead.

Surprise flashed over Alex's face and Barbara could hear him curse under his breath when her cowl was removed and face revealed but nevertheless he got to work, placing a gauze pad over the wound and wrapping a bandage over it and diagonally across her chest and back to hold the pressure. When he finished tying off the bandage he sat her up against the nearest wall and raised General Anderson on the radio.

"Overlord this is Knight, we lost the HVT, I have one friendly casualty standby for ZMIST, over."

" _Roger, standing by."_

"Z: Golf Bravo, one-nine-six-seven."

"M: Small arms fire."

"I: Gunshot wound to right side of neck."

"S: Possible arterial bleed, losing consciousness."

"T: Applied pressure via dressing, how copy?"

" _Solid copy on all. Extract the casualty, we'll have medical teams on standby at home, over."_

Alex replaced his radio and placed his hands on my shoulders, looking Barbara in the eyes.

"Hang on Barbara, I'm gonna get you outta here but I need you to stay awake for me, alright?" He calmly told her and she just nodded her head in response.

If he was angry with her she couldn't tell, he was too focused on her well being to care at the moment. He helped Barbara to her feet and draped her arm over his shoulders in an assisted carry just as she had done for him during his rescue.

"My cowl… can't have them see." Barbara muttered, extending an arm towards were it lay on the ground.

"Can't replace it now, it'll disturb the wound." Alex replied after retrieving it and storing it in one of the pouches on his uniform.

Ever the thinker he retrieved a black ball cap from his cargo pocket and placed it on her head, fitting it low so the visor covered the upper part of her face before carefully walking her back the way they came. Getting street level was another problem though, Alex didn't feel safe having Barbara climb the ladder herself so he went up first to reach down and help pull her out. He then rechecked the bandage on her neck to make sure it hadn't come loose before walking her back to the car and placing her in the passenger's seat.

Alex drove back to his apartment as quickly as he could, running through red lights and weaving through traffic it was a miracle the cops didn't pull him over. Barbara wasn't feeling that well though, she could feel her pulse under the bandage, and her vision blacked out several times as Alex raced to the awaiting medical team. He finally pulled up outside the apartment, tires screeching as he floored to a stop and jumped out of his seat not bothering to turn the engine off and gathered Barbara up in his arms before racing inside. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that she finally blacked out in his arms.

Easy day, right?

… **Mission Complete…**


	15. Chapter 15

"You willingly and deliberately placed a civilian in danger, what the hell were you thinking Sergeant!?" General Anderson shouted. He had personally accompanied the docs that had patched Barbara up and to say he was pissed would be an understatement.

"I should have you busted down to a Private and sent to the brig for this!" He continued as Alex just stood at the position of attention and took it.

"Aye Sir."

"You're lucky she'll pull through, otherwise I'd replace you and have you sent to Leavenworth."

"Aye Sir."

"You've been doing good so far Sergeant and then you have to go and disappoint me like this. I get that she offered to help but she's not a part of this operation, and now she and her friends know about what we're doing. Do you have any idea what could happen if they leaked this to the public?"

"Yes Sir, but I don't believe they would. Believe me Sir I wouldn't have asked for help if I didn't have full trust and confidence in them." Alex explained, hoping the General would see that he'd meant well. He seemed to have cooled off a bit after shouting and he just shook his head and sighed.

"I do trust you Sergeant, it's them I concerned about. We know next to nothing about them and they know who we are. Understand that this is a serious breach of national security, luckily only those of us in this room know about it, otherwise all of our heads would roll."

"Ahem." They both turned to see Barbara standing in the doorway to Alex's room, still dressed in her armor but with a more secure bandage on her neck. They had all been relieved when the docs told them that her carotid artery was intact, the bullet had just barely grazed it resulting in the steady flow of blood she experienced last night. After a minor surgery, she had been patched up but was warned not to engage in any rapid neck movement until she was fully healed.

"I understand your concern General, but we're on the same side. I helped Sergeant Westbrook of my own free will and I don't believe he should be punished for my actions." She told the General.

"I understand that you were just trying to help miss Gordon, but the second you did so you became Sergeant Westbrook's responsibility and as a Sergeant he should know better than to involve you in matters that could potentially compromise national security. However, you have proven to me that the two of you work well together and you did come to his aid without hesitation. Taking these into account, I will not punish Sergeant Westbrook."

"Thank you, Sir. You don't…"

"That does not mean that I can officially allow you to continue working with him, however I cannot deny the appeal of having you on our team. That being said I will allow you to continue helping us, but you are not to report any of our operations to your friends and in the event of future injury or death we disavow all knowledge of you, understand?"

"Yes Sir, you won't regret this."

"I hope so, for all our sake's. Now I need a full debrief on what went on down in those sewers, who were those men that took him from us?" He asked, directing the question at Alex.

"They were dressed in black fatigues, had access to military grade arms and munitions, and executed military tactics. If I had to guess they would be ex-military, most likely PMC's." He answered, giving as best a description as he could.

"That seems likely, but who are they working for, and why go after Croc?" The General asked, more to himself than them as he paced the room in thought.

"There was an idea pitched sometime back to capture some of America's worst super villains and force them to work for us in a similar manner to what you're doing know. Obviously, the idea was shot down, why waste time and resources capturing these criminals when we have operatives such as yourself that are already qualified for that type of work? Anyways our man Croc was on the proposed roster for this team, along with your friend Dr. Quinzel and a few more of Gotham's rogues." He revealed and they wondered who in their right mind would think that would be a great idea.

"So you think someone may be trying to start it up again? Who originated it?" Barbara asked.

"It was proposed by Amanda Waller, she works for the CIA but was transferred to the Belle Reve penitentiary after her request was denied about three years ago."

"Never heard of either of those Sir."

"I'm not surprised Sergeant, however Belle Reve is where we've sent your friends Ivanovsky and Two-face. The facility doesn't officially exist but it house's the worst criminals. Waller runs the facility with a private army on the CIA's payroll, however they're not authorized to operate outside the facilities grounds."

"That's too much of a coincidence, it's gotta by her. We should investigate this Belle Reve and find out what's going on." Alex proposed but the General just shook his head.

"It definitely sounds like Waller and her PMC's but we'd have noticed any unusual activity out of Belle Reve if it was her. It's possible someone else heard about Waller's proposition and is starting up their own thing."

"So, what about Croc, do we just let whoever hired those PMC's hang on to him?" Alex asked, not wanting to leave any loose ends.

"I'll work on finding out who took him back at the Pentagon, for now just focus on your primary objective. Keep up the good work Sergeant, Miss Gordon it was a pleasure to meet you and don't worry, your identity isn't leaving this room. I'll contact you when I have another mission Sergeant." He said before leaving with the docs he had brought, leaving Alex and Barbara alone in the apartment.

An awkward silence passed between them until Alex finally spoke.

"What the hell man? I've been hanging around with Batgirl this whole time!?" He exclaimed. This whole thing had him feeling really stupid about himself. he was by no means a genius but he should have caught on to this sooner, looking back on all the times they'd been around each other it seems so obvious!

"You say that like it's a bad thing." She says and Alex then realized that it sounds like he's complaining.

"It's not, but damn it how didn't I realize sooner? I'm a fucking idiot!"

"You're not stupid, you know I couldn't tell you."

"Yeah but you knew who I was the whole time."

"That didn't change anything, did it? We're still friends, aren't we?"

"I guess, but I really feel like I've been played again."

"Don't, my friendship is genuine and I want to keep it that way. Besides would you have told me what you're up to if I hadn't known already?" She challenged, knowing how he'd respond.

"Ugh, you got me there. Guess we played each other huh? I suppose it's better that everything's out in the open now, no more having to sneak around each other."

"Exactly, we'll make a better team now."

"Your right, I really shouldn't be making a big deal out of this. Your Batgirl and that's fine, just gonna take some getting used to is all."

"Understandable, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good. Now how about we go and do something that doesn't involve getting yelled at by my superior."

"Can't really do much until this heals though." She said, pointing to the bandage on her neck.

"Ah, right. Your dad's going to fucking kill me…"

… **Mission Complete…**


	16. Chapter 16

After running out on Alex the other day Harley returned to Ivy's place to lay low for a while. Joker wouldn't miss her much and she could use Ivy's advice on how to deal with this situation she now found herself in. Currently the two of them were eating breakfast at a café across the street from the RSS. Ivy was currently going on about her latest plan to bring down corrupt corporations that threated the environment but Harley wasn't really paying attention, her focus on the office behind the plant queen. She could just make out Alex sitting behind his desk, no doubt typing away at his computer on some military related business.

He had changed so much in the past four years. When Harley last saw him he had been going through the typical symptoms of PTSD, a result of his deployment and as such had been very unresponsive to others and she had been worried for his health, afraid that he'd do something stupid if left alone. A strong feeling of guilt came over her whenever she think back to those times, no doubt her actions had a negative effect on his already fragile state of mind and then having been told he'd committed suicide…

But here he was today, alive and well with no signs of any mental issues from the brief encounters they've had. She was surprised however to learn that he had reenlisted; he'd always talk about wanting to get out before the incident though she supposed with nothing left to come back to there was no reason NOT to reenlist. Harley wasn't too familiar with military ranks, but Sergeant definitely sounded impressive. He'd come along way while she'd been stuck in the same cycle of crime day in and day out.

"Hey, you paying attention?" Ivy asks and Harley quickly turned her attention back to her.

"Oh, sorry Red, just got a lot on my mind is all." She replied looking back over her shoulder to the RSS.

"Is this about your friend? We can go over there if you want." Ivy offered, though harley can tell it's the last thing she wants to do.

"That's probably not the best idea, he has orders to kill or capture us and he keeps a loaded shotgun under that desk."

"Paranoid much?" Ivy sarcastically remarked.

"Well Gotham isn't exactly the safest city in America ya know?"

"True. So, what are you going to do?" She asked and Harley knew the answer she was looking for, that she'd leave the Joker for good and hopefully stay with her. Sadly, she couldn't give it to her.

"He's worried that I'll get myself killed and wants to help me, but I don't need help with anything do I?"

"You're really asking me that? You know how I feel about your relationship with Joker. If the both of us are telling you to ditch him than it's probably in your best interest to do so."

"Ugh, you two just don't understand! I have to stay!"

"Harley while I don't like the idea of you surrendering yourself to the military, I'd rather have you do that instead of stay with Joker; at least then I'll know your safe with them."

"Safe? They'll more than likely lock me up in some hole for life if they don't outright execute me!" Harley said a bit louder than intended. She couldn't believe Poison Ivy of all people was seriously suggesting she just hand herself over to the military.

"This guy's your friend, right? If that's true, then I'm sure he'll make sure nothing happens to you." She said in an attempt to reassure her. It did somewhat but Harley couldn't get what he'd said during their last conversation out of her head.

"… _It's Sergeant. Only my friends call me Alex…"_ Those words had really stung coming from him but Harley didn't blame him for saying them.

"I'm not sure what we are to be honest with you."

"All I'm asking is for you to keep an open mind. I'll always have your back no matter what." Ivy told her, reaching across the table to hold the girl's hands in hers. Harley looked up into Ivy's eyes and could see the sincerity in them and she was right. No matter what she did Ivy was always there for her, just as Alex had been all those years ago and Harley couldn't help but think she didn't deserve either of them.

"Thanks Red, you're a real friend you know that?"

 **...**

It was closing time at the RSS. Alex had sent the Poolees away after afternoon PT and took care of some last-minute paperwork before changing over into civvies. As he walked to the door to leave he noticed an envelope wedged between the door and its frame. It was odd, most people just called the office but Alex didn't think much of it until he opened it.

 _Sergeant Westbrook_

 _I know who you are and what you're really doing in Gotham. I also know that you want to help your friend Harleen Quinzel be free of Joker's influence just as I do. I have information that can lead you to her and Joker's whereabouts. Meet me at the Gotham Botanical Gardens 8:00 PM tomorrow evening._

 _Regards_

 _P.L.I._

Alex didn't know who P.L.I was but either way it was a serious breach of security. Whoever this was obviously knew Harley and if she had told them what he was doing there was the possibility that she had told all the other rogues about him. Joker already knew who Alex was, but he hadn't tried anything after Halloween, no doubt he was plotting something terrible. The thought alone made Alex want to shit myself, the last thing he needed was a lynch mob coming after him.

If he did go to this meeting it'd have to be alone, Barbara was still recovering and wouldn't be able to tag along and General Anderson had strongly advised against Alex involving Batman or Robin any further. However, the message didn't say anything about coming unarmed and Alex felt that he was capable of shooting his way out if things go sideways.

It was a risk, but the chance to finally get Harley back from the Joker was too good to pass up.

 **…Mission Complete…**


	17. Chapter 17

Alex showed up at the gardens early to scope the place out, so far nothing looked out of place on the outside but considering that he knew next to nothing about the place that wasn't much to go on. It was after working hours so he'd changed into civvies pulling the hood of his jacket up to partially conceal his face, not that he needed to, the place was deserted at this hour.

His assessment of the exterior complete he walked over to a side door and drew his Beretta. After making sure the weapon was loaded Alex pushed the door open as quietly as possible and walked inside, keeping the pistol at the alert as he made his way through the building. Although he assumed that whoever contacted him wanted to meet in good faith there was always the possibility that this was a trap.

The interior of the building was poorly lit and overflowing with plant life, vines hung from the ceiling and moss completely covered the floor giving Alex the sense of being lost in a jungle. It was also eerily quiet inside, he couldn't hear anything except his own soft footsteps as he wandered through the foliage and he got the creeping sensation that he was being watched. Alex had half a mind to turn and run out of the building but he reminded myself why he was here.

As Alex made his way further in he began to see slight movements out of the corners of his eye but whenever he turned to investigate nothing would be there. Soon he found myself in what he assumed to be the center of the building as he came out into a clearing. Alex didn't like the feeling of being so exposed so he turned to make his way back when all of a sudden he felt something wrap around his ankle and yank him into the air. Startled by the action Alex blindly fired in the direction that the vine was holding him up from but was rewarded with a faint chuckling from the tree line.

"Alright asshole, if your gonna kill me at least give me a fair fight." He challenged to whoever was hiding. Out of all the possible ways He'd imagined dying, hanging upside down from a vine was not one of them. Then one of the most beautiful women Alex had ever seen stepped out of the treeline and into the clearing. She had red hair and he could make out swirling green patterns on her pale skin. He'd read about this woman's description in the files General Anderson had given him and a name was brought to mind. Pamela Isley, otherwise known as Poison Ivy, and Alex was caught in her trap. Fuck.

"Relax Westbrook, just having some fun is all." She said as she waved her arm and suddenly the vine holding Alex up let go of his leg and dumped him unceremoniously on the ground.

Alex quickly dusted himself off and got to his feet, leveling his pistol with the villain. He'd never encountered a meta human before but had heard stories of the power they wield, hopefully a bullet would be enough to bring her down if she got violent.

"The hell do you want with me?" Alex asked, staring down the sight of his gun. If she was intimidated by this she was doing a very good job of hiding it and that made him all the more nervous.

"Lower your weapon and I'll tell you." She replied with a wink and smile.

"How do I know you won't attack me?" Alex asked, lowering his weapon slightly.

"You don't, but trust me when I say that if I wanted you dead you'd already be six feet under." A fair point, she could have easily killed him while he was dangling from that vine. he'd already been around her for at least a few minutes and wasn't dead yet so Alex decided he might as well hear her out. To give both of them peace of mind he flicked his wrist while releasing the magazine from his pistol, causing it to land at Ivy's feet. Alex really hoped that she didn't know much about firearms because although his weapon no longer had its source of ammunition it still had a round loaded into the chamber ready to fire if he chose to do so.

Thankfully she didn't seem to notice, or didn't care, either way she relaxed as Alex lowered his pistol.

"Alright, let's hear what you've got to say."

"Simply put I want Harley away from the Joker as much as you do. I've tried for years to get her to leave him on her own but she never listens and keeps getting herself hurt as a result. She's the only real friend I have in the world and I don't want her to end up dead. You being here gives me a unique opportunity to finally get her away from all of this. I know about your mission and the orders that you have, but if you can kill Joker and free Harley from his influence I'll gladly help you do so, even if I have to give myself over to you..."

Wow, that is not what Alex was expecting at all. All the reports he'd read on Poison Ivy said that she was a very vain and prideful woman, but here she is, willing to sacrifice her own freedom to help her friend. It was…admirable, and that definitely got her some respect from Alex but while that was all well and good she hadn't exactly told him about how they'd go about doing this.

"I didn't realize she meant that much to you. You looked after her all these years?"

"Yeah, she can be a handful sometimes but there's…I don't know, a goodness about her that for whatever reason draws me to her. She means the world to me and it breaks my heart every time she goes back to that monster." She replied, her eyes cast sadly downwards.

"I know what you mean, believe me." Was Alex really making a connection with Poison Ivy? He must be going crazy if he could relate to the likes of her. Still he couldn't doubt the sincerity with which she spoke about wanting to help Harley. Maybe Poison Ivy wasn't as evil as everyone thought, and seeing this shred of humanity from a woman who claimed to despise the human race really had an impact on him. If she of all people could act this selflessly perhaps there was a chance Harley could be redeemed as well...

 **...**

" _Sergeant I'm about to have you committed to Arkham_ _myself."_ After agreeing to let Ivy help with his mission Alex had brought her back to the apartment and contacted General Anderson, who was currently glaring at him through the TV screen, believing he'd want to hear whatever intel she had to give on the Joker's whereabouts.

"Sir I know Ivy's done a lot of things in the past but you gotta trust me on this one, she's willing to help us in exchange for sparing Harley Quinn." Alex replied to try and reason with his Commanding Officer.

" _That's not the point Sergeant. I've told you time and again not to involve others in this but so far, you've included all the Bats and now Poison Ivy of all people. Do the words National Security mean anything to you?"_

"Yes, but to be fair you did send me here on my own Sir, can you really blame me for seeking outside help?"

" _We'll talk about your choices of outside help in private, for now we might as well listen to what miss Isley has to say."_

"Go ahead Ivy." Alex gestured towards the screen. Ivy cleared her throat and faced the screen, eyes looked with the General.

"Right, Joker keeps his hideouts surprisingly well hidden and I don't actually know where he's staying, however I can get you someone who does. Other than Harley that insane clown only trusts one other person with his plans and that's his Lieutenant, Jonny Frost. Get him and you'll get Joker." She informed him.

"I'm assuming you know where he is?" The General questioned.

"He frequents the Iceberg Lounge in the evening, usually leaves around midnight through one of the side alleys. You can ambush and capture him there."

"What do you think Sir?" Alex asked, hoping the General would agree with Ivy's plan.

" _Hmm, if what she's saying is good this could be the break we need. Capture this Frost and get that intel Sergeant, use whatever means necessary. Once you've learned what he's hiding I'll arrange for a pick up."_

"And what about me? Will you accept my help?" Ivy asked, the desperation evident in her voice.

" _We haven't seen much activity from you in recent years and your willingness to help is admirable, even if it's for your own reasons. If you aid Sergeant Westbrook in his missions I'll consider allowing you to reintegrate into society, under our supervision. However, if you betray our trust I will bring down the full force of the Marine Corps on you. Are we in agreement?"_

"Yes, I'll help out in any way I can so long as you get Harley away from the Joker."

And just like that Alex had another addition to his team. Barbara would most likely hate the idea of working alongside Poison Ivy, but Alex had seen stranger things in his career. However unexpected this was Ivy's life was his responsibility now, just as Barbara's is and it's now his job to make sure they make it back in one piece on top of his original mission. If Ivy pulls through for them then she had a very real chance of starting over, and regardless of her past deeds Alex would make sure she gets that chance. But in the event that he failed at keeping her alive at least she'd die making up for her past sins.

 **...**

"So, how exactly did you and Harley meet?" Alex and Ivy were staking out the lounge in the Challenger as they waited for Frost to emerge.

"We met on accident actually, we were both robbing a building at the same time when the police came by. We helped each other get away and we've been friends ever since." Ivy remembered the event fondly, Harley distracting the Police with an improvised gas grenade.

"Ha, that's funny. You know when we were kids I could've never seen her doing such a thing, course I never expected her to go bad in the first place."

"But you've forgiven her right? I mean you wouldn't agree to help me with this if you hadn't."

"I don't know if forgiven is the right word, but we'll see won't we. For the longest time I just wanted to kill her, I'd stay up at night thinking of how I'd do it and I got very creative with it to. Great thing about the military is they teach you a lot of ways to hurt and kill people."

"I'd imagine so, exactly how many people have you killed?"

"Well five in Afghan, Riddler and his goons, Two-face's goons, clowns, some Russians…I'd say about a couple dozen." Alex answered casually. He didn't like killing but it comes with being a Marine in a combat MOS you know? The first time he killed someone it hadn't hit him what he'd done until after the fact, he got so caught up in the moment that he didn't see the enemy as a person, just as a target. As terrible as that sounded it was better than freezing in the middle of combat and getting killed. Besides ISIS members are just assholes anyways. However, it wasn't lost on him that he's growing numb to the act with each pull of the trigger. Huh, maybe he should be in Arkham?

"Hey, you should get going it's about time." Ivy told him and looking at the clock on the dash showed he had around five minutes until Frost would be leaving. Alex got out of the car and retrieved a shotgun from the trunk before heading into the alley to await his target.

Alex was crouching behind a dumpster loading the shotgun with rubber slugs while Ivy waited in the car. Thing about rubber rounds is that they produce no recoil and it sounds like a Nerf gun when you fire it, even without a suppressor, making it a perfect choice for this. Alex glanced again at his watch and saw that it was now past midnight and Frost should be walking out any second now. Sure enough about a minute later he could hear footsteps walking through the alley. Once Alex was sure it was him he waited until Frost passed about ten feet in front of him before aiming the shotgun.

 _Pfft_

"Agh!" The slug had hit him dead center of his back and he collapsed to the ground in pain. Alex quickly cycled a new shell into the chamber and made his way over to him before using the butt of the gun to knock him out, breaking his nose with a sickening crack in the process. After slinging the shotgun, Alex reached down and picked up Frost and drug him back to the car before restraining and stuffing him in the truck.

"You get him already?"

"Course I did. Let's get back to my place so we can have some fun with this asshole." Alex said with a smirk before driving off into the city. Lord knows he felt bad for this guy, Alex had a lot of pent up anger he needed to let out and Frost had just been volunteered to act as his punching bag.

 **…Mission Complete…**


	18. Chapter 18

Alex sat in the armory, twirling a .50 CAL round in his hand as Ivy watched their prisoner, who was now tied up to a folding chair across the table from them. On top of the table sat the M2 heavy machine gun, a fresh belt of ammo resting on the feedway, and the barrel pointed towards Frost's chest. Speaking of him Alex must have hit him harder than he thought cause he was still off somewhere in Lala land.

"Are we going to question him or do you intend to watch him sleep all night?" Ivy asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

"I was hoping he'd wake up by now, but fuck it." Alex sighed.

He crossed the room to where Frost was sitting, tightening his grip on the .50 round, slammed the point of the bullet down into his thigh, burying the round down to the neck of the casing. Frost woke with a yelp of pain and started screaming as he saw what Alex was doing.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP!" Alex shouted while jamming the round further in.

"HOLY SHIT!"

Alex ripped the round out of his leg and pointed the bloody tip towards Frost.

"Holy shit is right, now you're going to answer my questions, else I use this big ass gun behind me to blow you in half." Alex threatened, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to the heavy machine gun.

"I don't know nothing man, you got the wrong guy!"

"Bullshit! I know Joker tells you everything you little worm!" Ivy shouted from across the room.

"Ivy!? I aint done nothing to you, what the hell do you want with me!?"

"Joker. Where is he hiding!?" Alex snapped his fingers to get his attention back on him.

"Wait, I know you! You're that guy Joker tried to off, Harley's friend, right?"

"I'm asking the questions here." Alex replied after punching him in the face. "Where is he!?"

"I don't know."

So, they were going to play this game then. Alex walked back behind the machine gun and racked the charging handle back once, readying the first round to be chambered.

"Two more tries Frost." He warned, holding up two fingers.

"I swear I don't know! We change hideouts so often it's hard to keep track!"

Wrong answer again. Alex charged the weapon again, loading a round into the chamber and taking the safety off.

"Last chance."

"Ok ok, we're using the old ACME toy factory downtown but I'm warning you, Joker's got a lot of hired muscle, you'll never make it out of there alive."

"Gangbangers and second rate mercs don't scare me, we'll be fine." Alex said. Frost then turned his gaze to where Ivy was standing.

"You'll never get to her ya know? Joker will kill her before giving her up so I hope you've said your goodbyes." He taunted as Alex retrieved his Berretta from its cage.

 _ **"BANG!"**_

Frost cried in pain as a bullet tore through his shoulder. Ivy looked at Frost and then to Alex, a look of surprise on her face.

"Oops, my finger slipped." Alex shrugged his shoulders innocently. Did he need to do that? Absolutely not. Was it worth it? Hell yeah it was!

"Gah, you can have fun dealing with _that_ . I do know the place he mentioned though, it's right here." Ivy said, pointing out the building on the city map hanging from the wall.

"Cool, give me some time to pull the buildings specs and develop a plan of attack, where going to need more than just the two of us to pull this off."

"Ugh, do I really need to work with the Bats?"

"If you want to stay on this team and get your shot at a new life, yes."

"Fine, just don't expect us to be all buddy-buddy."

"Hey, the best friendships are forged under a hail of gunfire and they'll be plenty of that where we're going. Trust me, by the end of this we'll all be one big, dysfunctional family."

It's true that people who go through the shit together come out as the best of friends, hell Alex's platoon back at Pendleton feels like an extended family. They'd only gone on a handful of missions together but Barbara, Robin, Batman, and Ivy are already his brothers and sisters in arms and he'd gladly lay down his life for them. Frost may have been right though, they'd be vastly outnumbered and outgunned even with the head Bats help, the chances of someone getting injured or worse was high and that made him worry. It was easier one his own, no one else to look after but now Alex had people counting on him to lead them, if they died it would be on his head. But they were a hardy bunch that can look after themselves as well and that gave him some relief.

But before Alex could worry about any of that he needed to devise a plan of attack and for that he needed intel. After patching up Frost and dumping him with the CIA he pulled out his phone and dialed Barbara.

"Hey, I need some intel on a place. ACME toy factory downtown, I need to know avenues of approach, how many entrances, and the number of perimeter guards." He told her.

" _Yeah no problem. What's all this for?"_

"We believe Joker is using the place as his current hideout, I need that intel to formulate an attack plan. Find out what you can and report back to me asap."

" _Sure, anything else?"_

"Actually yes, we got a new teammate. An old friend of yours"

" _I'm not gonna like this am I?"_ She sighed and Alex could imagine her rubbing her brow in annoyance.

"Probably not, but you'll just have to trust me on this."

" _Ugh, alright. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."_

"Oh and before I forget bring your boys too, gotta feeling we'll need their help as well."

" _Got it, later Sarn't."_

"Tango."

 **...**

"Poison Ivy!? Really?" Barbara asked in disbelief. It was early the next day they were gathered in his apartment in order to devise their plan with the intel she had brought. She had been very thorough with her gatherings, pictures, notes, even the equipment the guards were armed with. Although she was here Batman and Robin had prior engagements and wouldn't be able to be here until later, hopefully before they executed.

"Relax Babs, she's been nothing but helpful and she was even cleared by the General. Besides, I thought you guys were all about helping people like her reform themselves."

"Yes, well, it's still a little hard to believe. Ivy's been nothing but a pain in our side for the longest time." Barbara retorted, staring daggers at the older redhead.

"Relax baby bat, I assure you I have nothing but good intentions for being here." Ivy assured the younger girl with a pleasant smile.

"I've been around her for forty-eight hours by now and I'm still here aren't I? Trust me, General Anderson and I know what we're doing and we've given her enough rope to hang herself with if she tries anything." Alex added.

" Ugh...Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but don't expect the boss to be as easy going about it." Barbara finally relented.

"Noted, now come on we have a mission to plan."

The rest of the day was spent planning out the raid, using both the location they'd obtained from Frost and the recon Barbara had done. Alex pulled the buildings blueprints from the city archives, it was a three-story building comprised of a reception room, assembly floor, loading bay, and staff recreation areas making for a rather large facility. The building had its main entrance on the west side while the loading bay doors were on the south side, finally roof access was the last point of entry. Barbara's intel showed a group of about four thugs armed with Dragunov sniper rifles patrolled the building's roof, they would need to be dealt with first. Once inside they'd need to fight their way through dozens of armed thugs armed with AK's, SMG's, and a few machine guns to get to Joker and Harley, who they assumed would be holed up in the staff recreation wing. Capturing Harley alive however was a secondary priority, the Bat's didn't know yet but command wanted Joker dead at all costs. Alex would be using live ammunition during this raid, Barbara had come to terms with it during their little trip to the sewers earlier but he didn't know how the others would take to it, hopefully they'd understand that this was a military operation and that Alex followed Marine Corps doctrine first and foremost.

The basis for the plan laid out Alex spent the next few hours' op-checking his weapons and gear, trading out his LBV for a full plate carrier and Kevlar helmet, the extra forty or so pounds of protection would be worth having with all the rounds that would be flying down range. On top of that he grabbed a handful of stun and frag grenades in the event that they'd need to make a quick getaway. Finally, once all this was done Batman and Robin showed up just in time for Alex to kick his brief and upon seeing Ivy there Batman just raised an eyebrow at Alex but didn't say anything. They gathered around the dining table that had the buildings blueprints laid out over it with a few magazines and bullets scattered about on top of them and Alex had brought General Anderson on screen to watch over the brief.

"Ladies, Gentlemen thanks for being here. As I'm sure your all aware we've learned the location of Joker's hideout and we're ready to move on him. If you'll look at the table, you'll see he's holed up in the ACME toy factory in downtown Gotham. The building is isolated between adjacent warehouses, we have no chances of civilians getting in the way. Points of entry include the main doors on to the west, loading bay to the south, and roof access however snipers are emplaced on the roof providing a three-sixty-degree coverage of the building. Inside the building there's the reception area which I suspect to be booby-trapped, the assembly floor and loading bays where we'll likely run into the most resistance, and the staff recreation area where we believe Joker and Quinn will be located. Our intention is to assault the building, clear it of hostiles, capture Quinn if possible, and eliminate the Joker."

"You mean to kill him right?" Batman interrupted. After all Joker's done he still wouldn't kill him, it was admirable how he wouldn't break his oath but at the same time how many people would still be alive if he'd just killed the man?

" _He's proven too unstable to successfully rehabilitate, you of all people should know that Batman. Time and again he's escaped Arkham leading to more innocents being killed. We're making the call, for the wellbeing of Gotham's citizens Joker must be permanently removed. SGT Westbrook has orders to shoot on sight, but if you can successfully capture him alive we'll gladly arrange a pick up and transfer him to the most secure holding facility we have."_ Anderson told him. Alex didn't like that he had to appease Batman just to get his help, he just hoped he'd come through for them in the long run.

"Very well. Sergeant you go after Quinn, leave Joker to me." He told Alex and he got the feeling that it wasn't a suggestion.

"Roger that. Alright before we can actually breach the building those snipers need to be dealt with, that's where Batman and Robin come in." Alex said, moving a small bat toy and an R magnet, representing the two on the table.

"Once the snipers are down Batgirl, Ivy, and myself will breach through the front door and make our way to upper catwalks of the assembly floor and distract the thugs inside allowing Batman and Robin to get in from the roof and flank the enemy." He further explained, moving a small leaf to represent Ivy, another bat toy for Barbara, and one of those green army men for himself.

"From there Batgirl and Robin will hold off the remaining thugs while Batman, Ivy, and myself go for the HVI's, represented by this screw and piece of garbage I found. Once there in custody we'll egress through the loading bay and make our way to the docks for pickup. Hopefully we'll be done in time for me to catch my showing of _Rogue One_ later." Alex finished, earning a chuckle from Barbara and Robin. They thought he was joking but it was a serious matter, Alex could put up with a lot of things but he'd be damned if he missed out on the new _STAR WARS_ movie.

" _Negative on that pick-up Sergeant. Commands coming up with something, drop Quinn at Arkham Asylum and await further instructions. If you capture Joker alive we'll arrange for pick up at the docks."_

"I…very well Sir. Ok, back to business, hostiles will be armed with standard Com-Block weapons, AK's, SVD's, and the likes. Be advised we have no means of medevac, care will have to be rendered on site so try not to get hit. Any questions?"

It was a straight forward plan and everyone seemed to understand their roles. Alex looked across the table once and when no one said anything he shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his M27 from where it was resting and slung it.

"Alright then, let's do this."

… **Mission Complete…**


	19. Chapter 19

After parking the vehicles away from the factory Ivy, Batgirl, and Alex made their way through the alleys towards the factory on foot. Batman and Robin where already on the rooftops awaiting Alex's signal to take out the snipers on the roof. They turned another corner and finally got eyes on the target building and Alex could just make out one of the snipers standing on the roof.

"Team One, Team Two. We're in position waiting on you to take out the snipers, over."

" _Roger Two, standby."_ Came Batman's response.

Alex looked through his scope towards the sniper and just barely saw a black blur descend upon him. In a matter of seconds Batman had taken down the snipers and radioed down that they we're good to move.

"Alright move!" Alex whispered to his team. They quickly made their way down the alley as Alex covered them from his position. Once they safely reached the building Alex made his way over and stacked up on the door, checking the frame for any traps and upon finding none signaled for Batgirl to pick the lock.

With the lock picked Alex pushed the door open with the muzzle of his rifle and made his way inside with the others behind him. The room was clear of people and Alex once again scanned the room for any signs of traps, spotting a trip wire hidden behind the reception desk. He followed the wire up the wall and revealed a platter charge disguised as a framed picture and if activated it would have enough of a blast to blow any unfortunate victims apart. The charge would be easy enough to disable if he could locate its power source which fortunately for him was easy enough to find under the desk. After successfully disarming the charge he motioned for them to continue making their way through the building with himself as point, Batgirl in the middle, and Ivy guarding the rear.

They'd made it to the staircase that would bring them above the assembly floor and surprisingly hadn't run into anyone yet, once they reached the catwalks they found out why. Dozens of clowns, all armed to the teeth were milling about below. How it was possible for Joker to find this much help, even after a good handful where killed out in the country side a few months back was beyond anyone's guess. Alex also noted what looked to be fifty-five-gallon oil drums scattered about the floor, they would provide a wonderful distraction if they needed to bolt. Alex looked to his teammates and they nodded that they were ready.

Alex passed off a stun grenade to Ivy before flicking the safety on his rifle from safe to auto while Batgirl readied concussive batarangs. Ivy tossed the stun grenade to the floor below where it detonated above the clown's heads disorienting those in the immediate area and Batgirl quickly followed suit with her batarangs before Alex opened fire with his IAR, killing those not quick enough to recover and get behind cover. The clowns that weren't affected by the grenades and survived the initial fire quickly returned fire but Ivy used her powers to sprout vines from the cracks in the floor and used them to distract the clowns, buying the others time to get off the catwalk and behind some crates on an adjacent platform.

"Team One we've got them distracted, make your move!" Alex shouted into the radio as bullets flew all around. In no time clowns started getting picked off one by one until those not ensnared in Ivy's vines or killed by Alex were lying unconscious on the ground. Once the bullets stopped flying they all regrouped on his position and readied to move on when General Anderson came over the radio.

" _Team be advised I'm seeing several vehicles on rapid approach to your location, ETA approximately five minutes, Overlord out."_

"Shit, we gotta make this fast. You two gonna be good here?" Alex asked Batgirl and Robin.

"We'll be fine, just let us know when we're good to leave." Batgirl replied.

"Alright, here take these they should help you out." Alex passed off his remaining stun grenades to her and wished them luck before he, Batman,and Ivy, made their way further in. The staff areas had been refurbished into makeshift living quarters, all dingy and littered with trash and stupid gag items. It would take to long for them to search every room together so they split up and cleared rooms individually just as they heard gunfire pick up again from the assembly floor.

Clearing rooms by oneself is very risky as there's no one to watch their back, and while Alex was not an Infantry Marine he got enough training in CQB to handle himself. He'd cleared two rooms without any luck when he entered what must have been Joker and Quinn's room from the looks of it. A large bed dominated the center of the room, the thought of them doing _things_ made him wanna puke and he averted his eyes and scanned the rest of the room and spotted a wall safe was emplaced over a desk with documents and a purple Colt 1911. Alex looked at the tacky colored pistol and shook his head in disgust, only Joker would deface an exceptional weapon like that and in his opinion was reason enough alone to shoot him. He pocketed the pistol for later and leafed through the documents underneath it, finding a formula for a chemical called Smilex and pocketed that as well. Finally, he shot the locks off the safe and rifled through its contents, finding stolen cash and jewelry, nothing worth capturing. After searching the room, Alex exited back into the hallway when he heard the " **POP** " of a pistol from behind him, the rounds impacting the wall behind him. He turned and there she was, firing at him from around the corner, no doubt buying time for Joker to get away. Regardless of his feelings Alex raised his rifle and fired off a short burst down the hall to force her back into cover. After slapping a fresh magazine into the rifle, he quickly but cautiously made his way down the hall and towards Quinn…

 **...**

Those bullets had almost done Harley in, five bullet holes had impacted the wall where she'd been standing a second ago. she didn't know it was Alex when she had fired, honest, but it was too late to take them back now. She could hear him coming closer and Harley worried that as soon as he rounded the corner she'd end up with two fresh bullet holes in her sternum so she did the only thing she could think of. As soon as she saw his muzzle peak around the corner she grabbed it and yanked with all the strength she could muster, pulling him around the corner and bashing his helmet with the butt of her gun, stunning him momentarily before running off to find the Joker.

Harley had reluctantly returned after Ivy said that she was going on a business trip and she had been contemplating on killing Joker for destroying her life when the shooting had started.

"Harley, there you are! I'd say it's about time to blow this joint, literally!" Joker exclaimed with glee as he held up a detonator wired to the explosive barrels down in the assembly floor.

"But what about the guys? They're still down there!?" She may not have cared about the Joker anymore, but the guys had always been nice to her.

"Well you know what they say about omelets and eggs Harls."

With that he grabbed her wrist and practically dragged Harley out to the catwalk above the assembly floor, which was in total chaos. She could see Batbrat and Birdboy fighting some of the guys down below and noticed that some of them were tangled in vines, meaning that Ivy had to be here as well.

"Ah, we'll take out the Bat and his brood as well as that pesky floral fanatic. Sayonara suckers!" Joker cackled before activating the detonator, exploding the barrels down below. The explosions rocked the catwalk, blowing Joker over to the other side while the section Harley was standing on caved in on itself, taking her with it. She quickly grabbed onto the rails of the still intact section of the opposite side and held on for dear life. Harley looked over to the other side to see that Joker was just fine and making his way towards the exit.

"Hey help me out here!" She cried, outstretching her free hand across the gap towards him, hoping that he at least had one redeeming quality.

"Omelets and eggs Harls, omelets and eggs…" He said over his shoulder coldly as he walked away.

No, he can't leave her like this, not after everything she'd done, everything she'd sacrificed for him! Harley looked down and saw that everyone not trapped had fled and there was no sign of the brats either. The flames roaring down below kept growing however, consuming the room and rising to lick at her feet and she could feel her grip on the rail slipping as she dangled over the flames. Harley now realized that she didn't want to die, not like this! Burned alive until she was nothing but ash! As her grip finally slipped Harley screamed until suddenly…

"Gotcha!" Harley looked up to see Alex gripping her wrist and straining to pull her up. The catwalk however was becoming strained under the combined weight and it groaned in protest as Harley was pulled onto it.

"Ivy I could use some help here!" Alex shouted back down the hall. As the section gave way they were suddenly grabbed by vines and pulled to safety by Ivy, who caught Harley in a tight embrace.

"Stupid girl, I told you not to trust Joker." She chided once she let go of her.

Harley was about to thank her when suddenly… **BANG!** Pain shot through Harley's body as she crashed into the wall, blood spilling from her chest and painting the walls around them. They looked back across the chasm to see Joker had returned and held a smoking .44 Magnum in his hand. Alex leveled his rifle and fired back as Ivy scooped Harley into her arms, carrying her back into the hallway just as she saw Alex fire a final shot and saw what looked like blood explode from Joker's head. Harley didn't know if he killed him or if it was her mind playing tricks on her, either way she wouldn't know for sure.

"What happened to her?" A voice Harley recognized as Batman's asked.

"Joker." Ivy spat with anger.

"We gotta get outta here, where are the others!?" Alex asked urgently.

"They made it back to the vehicles, what happened to Joker?"

"Fuck if I know, pretty sure I gotta head shot though. We gotta move her now, Ivy keep pressure on that wound."

"She needs help now!" Ivy warned him urgently.

"This building's coming down around us, we stay we all die!"

"He's right Ivy, once we're clear of this place we can treat her." Batman agreed.

Alex and Batman formed a makeshift stretcher out of one of the bedsheets and some shower rods and carried Harley out of the building as fast as they could. As they reached the cars they found Batgirl and Robin waiting just before the factory finally exploded, raining rubble down on the area. Once the rubble stopped they set Harley down and Alex slung his rifle over his back, retrieved his med kit, and got to work on treating her wound, stripping the upper half of her costume off to get a better view. Harley looked down at her chest to see blood everywhere and her skin was turning as white as the paint on her face from the loss of blood. Joker always used hollow point rounds in his Magnum and the bullet had torn a ragged hole through Harley's chest and she saw everyone gasp as the grisly wound was revealed. Alex quickly started packing the wound with gauze while Ivy knelt down next to her and griped her friend's hand.

"Alright, looks like it missed your lung. I'm going to apply an occlusive dressing, I need you to exhale on three alright? One…two…three." Harley exhaled as he instructed and he applied the dressing, taping it down with medical tape before repeating the process on the exit wound on her back.

"Ok, that should hold until we can get you to a hospital."

"You…you saved my life, Joker he…tried to kill me! And even after I shot at you!"

"Yeah well I shot you a few years back if I recall. Don't worry your safe now, Joker can't hurt you anymore."

"He…he's really dead?" It seemed impossible, Joker had survived so many things that to have finally gone out…

"I couldn't confirm anything but he couldn't have survived that explosion, besides I shot that bastard in the head."

"Don't be so sure Sergeant, I wouldn't be surprised if he pops up again." Batman warned and Harley found myself silently agreeing with him.

"I hope not, we should get her to the hospital."

"The hospital staff can't see you or Ivy, I'll take her down there and make sure she gets admitted to Arkham after they finish treating her."

"What!? No, not Arkham!" Harley protested but she was in no condition to do more than voice her opinion.

"Relax the military's going to be watching over you and making sure that you get help, nothing's going to happen." Alex assured her.

Somehow that didn't make her feel any better about being thrown back into the loony bin. Harley looked over to Ivy for help but she just nodded her head in agreement with the others. With no means to protest in her condition Batman scooped Harley up into his arms and placed her in the Batmobile, driving off to Gotham General and telling the staff what to do with her once she'd been treated. Harley only hoped that Alex was right about the military's intentions and that Ivy seemed to trust him gave her some comfort but she still didn't like the idea of being in their hands now.

… **Mission Complete…**


	20. Chapter 20

Despite how much Harley hated being thrown in Arkham there was always a sort of comfort in being there, a respite from the chaos and violence of the criminal lifestyle but with the Joker gone it didn't seem like she'd be going back to that any time soon. Quite the opposite in fact.

The night of Alex's raid was a real eye opener for her, she should have just accepted Alex and Ivy's offers to help but they'd come for her despite her protests with Batman and his brood in tow. She didn't know what they got out of it but she was grateful to them for her life regardless. Batman had assured her that the military would be by to see her at some point in time and that in the meantime they'd keep the Arkham staff from doing anything that would mess with her head any more than it was already.

Harley had been in Arkham for a week already, the wound she'd received from Joker was sewn shut and healing, though she'd have another ragged scar to add to her collection of bullet wounds. Harley's old peer Dr. Joan Leland had been assigned to her case and had stuck to only treating her with psychiatric sessions, which to both of their surprise Harley was doing better at. She wasn't pretending to obsess over Joker like she had in the past, instead she went on about how badly she felt about everything that she'd done once and honestly, she felt that it was helping.

But Harley's time at Arkham would be coming to a close, she'd known that since she got a letter from Alex in an official document stating that a representative from the military would be by to see her shortly and it was Dr. Leland that came by to escort her to them.

"Harleen you have visitors, important ones by the looks of them."

Harley gulped nervously as she was escorted through the asylum towards a secure meeting room and placed in a chair in the center of the room. It was empty save for the chair she was sitting in, a table, and herself. Dr. Leland had left after making sure she wouldn't be going anywhere. Harley sat there staring at the table for a few minutes before she heard the door open and Alex walked in. He was wearing his woodland camouflage uniform and carried a rifle in his arms and had a pistol strapped to his leg, behind him walked in an older looking man in a more formal uniform. Alex looked around the room and turned to the older man.

"Room is secure Sir."

"Thank you, Sergeant. Miss Quinzel I'm General Anderson, Sergeant Westbrooks's advisor and overseer of DOD operations in Gotham." The man introduced himself.

"Look General if your gonna have me killed please just get it over with, I'd rather not put it off if it's all the same to you." Harley replied rudely and received a glare from Alex in return.

"Hey! We're trying to help you, so shut up and pay attention Harleen." He chided from behind the General who simply waved him off.

"Sergeant, please. I'll be frank with you, we need your assistance in a matter concerning the security of this operation."

"You need me, really? I mean yeah, whatever ya need! It's the least I could do after ya saved my life!" Harley couldn't believe this, the military was coming to her, a criminally insane psychopath for help.

"Good. A few weeks ago, Sergeant Westbrook and Batgirl were engaged by unknown soldiers while attempting to capture Killer Croc, the soldiers wounded Batgirl and snatched Croc out under us. We don't know where these soldiers came from or what they're objective is although we do have some ideas on who they work for. Obviously, they're after Gotham's criminals but for what purpose is unknown. That being said we believe they'd come after you if presented with an opportunity."

"So, ya want to use me as bait to draw out these goons is that it?"

"Precisely. We'll be monitoring suspected groups for activity in preparation for an offensive operation."

"And what exactly is your plan?"

"You'll be transferred under armed escort from Arkham to the Naval Consolidated Brig in Miramar, California, during which we expect to come under attack by these soldiers."

"Sir I don't like the idea of turning the streets into a warzone just to draw these guys out, don't we have any other options?" Alex asked. Harley could tell he didn't like the idea that much but knew that he would follow those orders if given.

"I don't like it either Sergeant but we need to identify who's interfering with our operations and this is the quickest way. We'll isolate the route taken to reduce collateral damage and have QRF on standby incase things get hairy."

"And what about Harley? What happens when she gets to Miramar?" Alex did raise a good point and she was also curious as to what they had planned for her.

"She'll remain in the brig pending trial for past crimes committed against the military." Oops, Harley had forgotten that some of the things she'd done for Joker may have upset the military but it's not like explosives grow on trees or anything.

"Sir if I may, as air headed as she seems I can tell you from firsthand experience that Harley actually has a brilliant mind and is quite a skilled combatant, I believe she could be an asset just as Ivy is."

"Sergeant you do know that she still suffers from psychological issues, right? I've only agreed to sparing her life to gain Ivy's cooperation and give you an ease of mind."

"I am aware of that but I think…"

"I know what you're thinking Sergeant. As much as I disagree with you I suppose I owe you something for the work you've done so far, but first I want to have her psychologically cleared for duty. If Miss Quinzel agrees to receive treatment at Miramar and is deemed fit for duty I will push for her to repay her debt to society through service instead of confinment."

"Yes." Harley blurted out and they stopped their conversation to look at her.

"Yes what?"

"I'll do it. I'll get help from your doctors and help Alex if you'll let me."

"You've caused a lot of trouble in the past four years and I'm just supposed to believe you've had a change of heart all of a sudden?" The General asked skeptically.

"General I've done a lot of things and no amount of service can ever make up for the pain I've caused but I want to at least try to do some good." It wasn't the best argument but it was sincere. He thought it over for a second before speaking again.

"Then I'll tell you the same thing I told Ivy, you do right by us and I'll help you start over but if you betray our trust you'll find yourself in the darkest hole imaginable, understood?" He growled out menacingly.

"Yes Sir." Harley squeaked out as she cowered away from him.

"Good. It'll take some time to organize the transfer so you'll have to remain here for the time being and I'm sure I don't have to tell you not to breathe a word of this conversation to anyone?" Harley nodded her head in agreement before the General left to speak with Doctor Leland about something while Alex lingered behind. An awkward silence fell between them and they just looked everywhere except at each other until Harley had enough of the silence.

"You didn't have to stick up for me like that you know." She told him as he pretended to be interested in his weapon.

"No but I want you to have a chance at life again. It's not ideal, none of this is, but I think you'll be better off helping us then rotting in the brig." He said, finally looking up at her.

"Why are going to all this trouble just for me, I'm not worth the effort after what I've done." She replied and he shook his head and sighed.

"Harleen, despite the things you've done and the pain I've been through your still my friend, and I hope that with time we can get back to the way things used to be, before that stupid asshole ruined our lives."

"I do to Alex. You were right about him ya know? And I'm thankful that you and the others saved me from him. You've done more for me in the past few days than anyone has in the last four years, I'm just sorry that it took so long to come to my senses. I know I've still got some issues to work through but I'll get help, I'll show you that I want to be a better person."

"That…that makes me happy, more than you could know. We'll get this sorted out and I promise everything will be better." Alex said as he walked over to where Harley was sitting and placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled before going to rejoin his handler. He was about to leave the room when Harley called out to him again.

"Hey… thanks for not giving up on me." She said and he stopped and looked back at her over his shoulder.

"Never again."

… **Mission Complete…**


	21. Chapter 21

While Alex was working at the RSS Batman had contacted him in private saying that he'd wanted to meet up with him after dark but for whatever reason was withheld from Alex. He assumed it would be another of their 'Talks' about his operating procedures, how he was a bad influence on his wards, or about how he had lost credibility by ignoring his original mission and allowing both Ivy and Harley to not only be spared death or imprisonment but instead allowed them to operate freely as members of his team (at least in the case of one of them so far). Either way Alex was expecting an ass chewing but what he got was quite the opposite.

"Sergeant, I'd like to apologize to you. I haven't been fair with you since our first meeting and treated you with distrust, but after seeing all that you've accomplished I've realized that I was wrong about you and for that I apologize." Yeah definitely not what Alex was expecting from the Dark Knight.

"Whoa whoa, back up. What brought this on?"

"Think about it Sergeant, Two-Face and his gang are off the streets, Riddler and Joker are dead, and Ivy's turning her back on her old ways all because of you, not me. When we first met at the docks I assumed you were just another man with a gun out for blood, and while you have killed people you do so with restraint, sparing lives when possible. But above all else you've shown compassion, even to your enemies and that's what separates us from everyone else who would take the law into their own hands. I know that you're working for the DOD and following their orders and while I don't agree with them you've done what you could to make the best of the situation."

Alex wasn't sure compassion would be the right word choice but he'd take it. However he did appreciate being promoted from the 'guy with gun' to the 'us' catagory. The way Alex saw it, he acted no different than a Police Officer would, he followed proper rules of engagement, and didn't cause unnecessary suffering. The only difference is that his job is officially unofficial, if that makes sense.

"Ha, you should tell that to my adviser sometime. I get the feeling that he disapproves of me every time I make a decision without consulting him first."

"I'm sure he's just looking out for your best interest. I was the same way with Dick, back when he was Robin, but that eventually drove us apart. I try to be more lenient with Tim and Barbara but after what happened to Jason…sometimes I think they'll get themselves killed as well."

"Uh, not to go too far off topic but you did just tell me your sidekicks names. I mean I figured out who Barbara was on my own, but I still didn't know who Robin or his predecessors were."

"Your trustworthy Sergeant, besides I only gave you their first names." He said with what Alex could have sworn was a smile but he's sure his eyes were playing tricks on him, Batman never smiles.

"So does that mean I get to know who..."

"No."

"Fair enough, but back to what you were saying I can relate. When I was a PFC and Lance Corporal my seniors would always harp on me about the smallest things, 'Westbrook your standing too close to that door, Westbrook your calculations on that charge were slightly off, Westbrook you suck at shooting' and so on. It was the most annoying thing ever but because of them constantly harping on me I learned how to be sufficient on my own and after my first deployment, when I got promoted to Corporal I taught my Junior Marines the same way and they turned into outstanding Marines. So, what I'm trying to say is that you can only teach them so much but after that you gotta trust them to hopefully make the right choices on their own. I know it was scary for me to go on my second deployment and be in charge of Marines that time, to lead them into battle and possibly their deaths. Sure, I had experience from my first deployment but it was the training my NCO's gave me that allowed me to effectively lead and thankfully we all made it back home that time."

"I guess you're right, Barbara's capable enough to make her own decisions without me looking over her all the time, and if she wants to spend her time helping you then that's her choice."

"Wow, wish my parents had been as understanding about my choices as you are about hers."

"Your parents didn't approve of you joining the military? I'd think most would have been proud of their children."

"Well they weren't, they thought I was going to throw my life away and die in some desert fighting for oil. They'd always compare me to Harleen before I left home, 'Alex why can't you get a scholarship like Harleen, she's going places and you're just going to die in the desert because you want to kill people.' Well guess what guys, I went over there twice and I'm still here, didn't get shot once but how many bullets has Harleen taken? Two. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, right? And yeah, I killed people but that's not why I joined up. I'm not stupid but I also wasn't smart like Harleen was growing up, hell she graduated high school early and got into GCU on a gymnastics scholarship while I was still a sophomore in high school. I didn't have the grades to get a scholarship like she did and even I couldn't pay for college on my own so I enlisted, I'd do my four years, get out, have my schooling paid for with the G.I. Bill and move on with my life. At least that was the original plan. Then shit happened and I wound up reenlisting cause what was the point in getting out if the only person who gave a fuck about me lost her goddamn mind and hopefully I'd go back to Afghan or some other country and die in a firefight that time but no such fucking luck!" Alex ranted, his volume increasing as he went on, before spinning around and punching the nearest wall, which he wouldn't recommend doing cause it hurt like a motherfucker.

"Sorry I brought it up." Batman man said as Alex gripped his busted hand in pain. Fuck, he hadn't had an emotional outburst like that in years, it had to be all the stress he'd been through building up or something like that but he couldn't let the head Bat know that it was getting to him so he played it off.

"Don't be. If there's one thing I learned from Harleen it's that it's good to vent like that, helps get the bad thoughts outta my mind." Alex said through clenched teeth but the look Batman was giving him said he wasn't buying that lame excuse.

"Do you often have bad thoughts?" Every other day now that Alex thought about it but that's not what he tells him.

"Do you have a degree in psychotherapy?" Alex snaps.

"Point taken. But you shouldn't keep things bottled up like that."

"Yeah yeah, look I worked out my issues with the Chaplain years ago, and gotta clean bill of mental health. I'm good alright?" Alex replied dismissively. He took the hint and changed the subject of the conversation.

"So, what's the official story with Harley, that explosion may have made it hard to cover up our involvement."

"Not as hard as you'd think actually. Officially, she and Joker got into an argument after a botched encounter with you, things got heated and he shot her as she got into a vehicle to leave. She then sought protection from me at the RSS where I treated her injury before you came to pick her up after tailing her. The explosion resulted from a gas line being struck from the ricochet of the bullet Harley was shot with which consumed the building and all occupants inside. Meanwhile at the hospital Harley requested to be placed under our protection in exchange for information."

"I thought you guys were going to place her on trial for past crimes?"

"They were originally but General Anderson called in some favors and got her pardoned on account of the damage done to her psyche by the Joker, which by the way we'll need some testimonials from you and the others to help back that up. She'll still spend time at the brig but will be receiving mental health counseling before going on a medical board to determine if she's to be declared sane at which point she will be cleared to reintegrate into society."

"You mean she'll come back here and join you, right? From my understanding that was the agreement made with your advisor."

"That is correct. It's not what I wanted for her but she'll be enrolled in the DOD in an advisory capacity just like Ivy was."

"And how much paperwork did it take to get Ivy that position I wonder?"

"A fuckin lot. Anderson told me he had to jump through so many legal hoops just to get her pardoned. She's been quiet for a while now but do you know how much shit is in her record from when she was going around being all evil? Cause I do, two-hundred and forty-nine separate entries, and that's just within the boundaries of the continental U.S. Yeah, pretty sure the General hates me for putting that on him but hey, it all worked out, right? One less villain in Gotham so mission accomplished!"

"I gotta say I was surprised to see her working with you the other night, she's not one to trust other people."

"Yeah well how surprised do you think I was that she contacted me in the first place? She must really care about Harley, if the lengths she's gone to help get her away from Joker are anything to go by."

"Mmm, they've been trouble when they paired up before but if she's serious about starting over, using her powers for good, then I suppose we should all be happy. Ivy is one of the most dangerous villains I've ever faced so it'll be a welcome change to have her on our side. If she's sincere that is."

"She's done good so far, mind you she's being supervised almost twenty-four seven, but I have no doubt she'll turn out just fine. Or you know, she could just die. That could happen too. Not by me though, I mean not without provocation that is, but…shit I'm rambling huh?"

"Only slightly. Don't worry I'll be keeping an eye on her while your out of state."

"You know I bet my odd behaviors got something to do with all that exposure to Ivy, she's got those pheromones, right? Cause I've been feeling light headed lately and I coulda sworn my hand had a greenish tinge to it earlier." Alex said, holding up his hand good hand to examine it closely but it was its normal, slightly tanned color. "Weird."

"More than likely your just lacking sleep."

"Probably right. Well thanks again for the talk, catch ya later."

"Anytime Sergeant."

Alex then left Batman and drove back home to his apartment where, after a quick range of motion test determined his hand was not broken, he sat on the couch and turned on the Xbox. Usually slaying prepubescent teenagers on Call of Duty was a good stress reliever for Alex but it just wasn't doing the trick tonight even though he did find it humorous when one kids mom started yelling at them over the mic, so after finishing another game he switched off the console and sat in silence for a while but Alex soon realized he needed a distraction lest he go mad with his own thoughts.

That's when he remembered the pistol he'd captured from the Joker and how hideous it was. Alex got up from the couch and entered the armory, retrieving the weapon from the cage he'd put it in and placed it on the workbench. It truly was an ugly weapon, the frame and slide were stained purple while the trigger, safety, hammer, and slide release were gold-plated and to top it off the hand grips were made of a pearlescent white material. Tacky in every sense of the word, but at its core it was still a Colt .45 and Alex wouldn't let such a weapon remain tarnished by the Joker. Refurbishing the weapon would become his new pet project which kept him up all night and through the next day.

After breaking the weapon down to its primary components, Alex started by returning the frame and slide to their original gunmetal grey color then replacing the gold-plated components with parts of the same color resulting in a more tactical looking weapon, however the grips would need to be replaced once he ordered them.

After admiring the progress made, Alex came to the realization that he personally didn't need the weapon, as he already had his own sidearm so he figured he could gift it to one of his friends however that was a difficult choice. Barbara and Robin probably wouldn't make use of it, batman would likely put it on display in the Batcave, and Ivy had no use for weapons since she had the environment at her disposal which left Harley. She was familiar with the use of handguns and she would need one once she was cleared to join the team.

That's when Alex got the idea to customize the weapon with her in mind and present it to her upon completion of the training she'd receive once on the team. With that in mind he placed an order for custom grips, nothing flashy like the previous ones, and sent in the slide for custom engravings, which turned out to be an expensive investment but hey he felt quite good about himself by the time he was done and he had completely forgotten why he had been upset earlier.

Alex checked the estimated wait time on the parts ordered and saw that they'd be finished by the time we got back from California, well if they actually make it there without being killed first that is. But then again if he was dead he wouldn't have to put up with any of this anymore, hmm…Naw Alex was past trying to get himself killed especially since he was so close to getting his friend back.

As the transfer would be seen by the public it was only Alex tagging along with a group of Law Enforcement Marines brought in from Camp Lejeune. Ivy had protested initially, wanting to be there for her friend but while she was a DOD advisor now it would take some time for the world to see that she had truly changed her ways so instead the General had tasked her to work with Batman while they were in Cali. It was a sound strategy on his part, Ivy being seen working with Batman would earn her some goodwill from the public and it allowed her to be kept in check. So, despite having his work cut out for him these next few days Alex was actually feeling relaxed once he had time to clear his head and for the first time in a while he finally felt like his life was taking a turn in the right direction, but oh how wrong he was.

… **Mission Complete…**


	22. Chapter 22

It was early in the morning; the sun was just coming over the horizon and all was quiet until the silence was broken by the roaring of engines. Four Humvees and three MRAPS escorted by GCPD patrol cars raced through the gates leading to Arkham Asylum, screeching to a halt in the yard outside the front doors.

"Out, out, out!" Yelled the officer in charge of the Marine MP's. Marines in full combat gear jumped out of the MRAPS, large six-wheeled vehicles impervious to small arms fire with a V-shaped lower hull to deflect IED blasts, as the machine gunners up top scanned the road in front of the asylum for hostiles.

Alex jumped out of the center MRAP, the vehicle they'd be transporting Harleen in, and joined the Marines securing the Asylum. Inside the patients were riled up, the staff desperately trying to maintain some sense of order as the Marines stormed through the building towards Harley's cell. As they reached her cell five Marines in riot gear stacked up on the door in preparation to execute a forced removal if necessary.

"Dr. Quinzel will you comply!?" The lead Marine shouted through the bars.

"I'm in a strait jacket, what do you think?" Came the sarcastic response and Alex sighed before calling out to her.

"Harley don't antagonize the MP's they'll…" He had begun to say but they had already stormed the cell and restrained her by force. "Alright, alright, get her up we gotta schedule remember?" Alex sighed while rubbing my forehead.

"Aye Sergeant."

"Overlord precious cargo is secure, moving to convoy now." He reported into the radio as they made our way back outside.

" _Roger that. We have drones flying over suspect agencies including Belle Reve. Get the PC to the airport alive and we'll see that she gets the help she needs. Good luck Sergeant, Overlord out."_

They then escorted Harley through the asylum and outside were they rushed her into the designated MRAP as the Marines providing security hoped back into their respective vehicles and pulled out of the asylum grounds. As they drove into the city the convoy commander came over the comms.

" _Alright ladies and gents here the scheme of maneuver, were escorting one Harleen Quinzel to Gotham International for transfer to the navel brig in Miramar. Our routes been cleared of traffic and we have Gotham SWAT acting as our QRF in case anything happens. Now we have five major checkpoints totaling for about thirty minutes of travel. Gunners maintain your sectors of fire and stay alert. Remember all of Gotham is watching us so let's show them how Marines get things done, Oorah?"_

The Marines rode in silence inside of their MRAP, Alex looked over his weapon for the hundredth time while Harley sat in silence, staring at the floor plates to avoid eye contact with the Marines inside. It was all relatively peaceful and thanks to the gentle bumping of the vehicle Alex was beginning to nod off when one of the Marines spoke up.

"Hey Sergeant, me and the guys been wondering why the local recruiters being involved in this. Seems kinda odd to us." The Marine asked. Alex read the patch on the front of his plate carrier identifying him as a Lance Corporal Jimenez. He was a young-looking kid, no older than twenty by the looks of him, probably his first real mission since hitting the fleet along with the rest of the younger Marines.

"Well kid, Harley and I go back, they asked me to help keep her calm during the transfer, wasn't my idea but you know how it is, gotta do what the green weenie says." He lied. Again, that was the official story, but anyone who believes that load of B.S. probably belongs at the asylum they'd just left. One would think whoever was in charge of creating cover stories would have made them more believable but Alex guessed in the end it doesn't really matter so long as it draws attention away from the real reason.

"Aight, just seems a bit odd that they'd care about it like that? I mean no disrespect Sergeant but I think we got enough guys to keep her under control." He replied and Alex knew he wasn't buying that story for a second.

"Don't underestimate her Jimenez, she might not look it but she could probably kick all our asses if she wasn't in that jacket." Alex told him, causing Harley to chuckle.

"Naw, maybe like one or two of ya before one of ya guys gets in a lucky shot." She said with a grin and the Marines sitting on either side of her leaned away from her in response. They all knew who she was and what she was capable of but it would do no good for her to keep antagonizing them.

"Harleen, what did I tell you…"

"I'm just saying half ya guys don't look all that experienced…"

"HARLEEN!" Alex shouted loudly, causing everyone to jump and look back at him.

"Shutting up now!" She squeaked out and flinched away from Alex as if he was going to hit her. Fuck, he'd forgotten that she was constantly abused by Joker and that she'd associate shouting with physical abuse. It made him sick seeing her scared of him like that, sure he'd thought of killing her before but that was when he was in a bad state of mind. Now that he was past his anger at her he couldn't imagine himself wanting to harm her.

"Sergeant is she alright?" Jimenez asked after Harley remained trembling in her seat.

"Joker abused her constantly while they were together, part of the reason her heads so fucked up. He'd treat her like shit even though everything she did was an effort to gain his approval. She's as much a victim of his evil as anyone else." Alex explained.

"Never heard that before, always thought she just had a screw loose up there but…man that's some fucked up shit. Hope she can get some help."

"Well that's what we're here for right? Military's looking out for her in exchange for intel, that sorta thing."

" _Convoy be advised we are passing checkpoint four, ETA to final checkpoint ten minutes over."_

"Damn, home stretch already…" He couldn't have said those words any sooner as an RPG exploded against one of the patrol cars before a semi-truck slammed into the lead Humvee, pinning it against the wall of a gas station and blocking our route. Alex's truck screeched to a halt after swerving to avoid rear ending the MRAP ahead of it just as bullets began to ricochet off the armored hull. Their gunner quickly swiveled his machine gun towards a parking garage across the street and returned fire, causing Harley to jump in her seat as hot, empty casings rained down into her lap from above.

" _Gun one is hit! I say again gun one is hit!"_ Came a frantic voice over the radio before an RPG struck another Humvee.

"Driver get us outta here!"

"Can't Sergeant, roads blocked!" Shit, they were sitting ducks for that RPG if they stayed in this vehicle.

" _All vics, all vics. Dismount and take cover inside the McDonalds to our three-o-clock! Machine gunners provide suppressive fire,over!"_ The convoy commander ordered over the comms. As the highest-ranking Marine in his truck Alex quickly set about tasking the Marines.

"You two secure Harley and get ready to move on my command, Jimenez you're with me, provide security for them. Move Marines!"

Alex opened the rear doors and jumped out of the vehicle with Jimenez, taking cover behind a parked car. He pointed out where the fire was coming from to Jimenez and the two began to return fire, buying time for the other MP's to rush Harley inside the McDonalds with the rest of the Marines. As they rushed inside the civilians who had been enjoying their breakfast screamed and ran in terror as bullets began to strike the windows. Alex saw the two MP's escorting Harley take her to the back of the building away from the fire as the remaining Marines flipped over tables for cover and set up firing positions. Across from them Alex could see multiple figures running about the parking garage and once he looked through his scope he saw that it was indeed the soldiers he and Barbara had run into before.

The soldiers had set up firing positions on every level of the five-story parking complex and from the looks of it they outnumbered the Marines three to one. Alex saw the flash of another RPG firing and ducked behind an overturned table just as it struck the last of the Humvees, destroying its engine and wounding the gunner.

"Goddamnit where's our QRF!?" The Captain in charge of the MP's yelled as the wounded were pulled inside the building.

"Sir, QRF has been engaged five blocks over!" A comm Marine replied urgently.

"Fuck! Get our wounded in the back and post a guard on Quinzel then ready two squads and a support team to assault that building, post machine guns on the roof to provide covering fire for them to advance!"

"Yes Sir!"

"And someone get these civilians out of…" The Captain's order was cut off by the 'CRACK' of a sniper rifle and he fell dead to the floor, a fresh bullet hole through the center of his forehead, followed by the two words everyone dreads hearing on the battlefield.

"MAN DOWN!"

"Sergeant what do we do!?" This was bad, really bad. The Commanding Officer had been killed and while they were putting up a fight the Marines were still taking one casualty for every five they killed.

"Suppress that sniper and focus fire on those RPG's, we need to buy time to get that semi out of the way!" Alex ordered before he heard the machine guns light up the garage while the riflemen started picking off the RPG's. But even as the last RPG fell that sniper kept on popping up and scoring headshots on his guys. They needed reinforcements and they needed them now.

 **...**

It was another boring day at working, cataloging new additions to the library's collection when Barbara's cellphone started ringing and caller ID said it was Alex.

"Hey what's up?" She asked as she picked up, expecting some of greeting in return but instead she heard shouting, gunfire, and a muffled explosion before Alex came through.

" _Barbara! We're pinned down in a McDonalds on the corner of Eighth and India, taking sniper fire from a parking garage across the street! I have excessive casualties and need support asap!"_ Came the short reply. Barbara didn't even hesitate before dropping her phone and rushing to the nearest bathroom to change into the Batgirl suit.

Barbara left the library and used the city's skyline to quickly get to the street Alex had mentioned but he needn't have bothered as she could see the black smoke billowing from the wrecked convoy and hear the excessive gunfire a mile away. After perching on a rooftop across from the parking garage Barbara was able to fully take in the battle raging below. The patrol cars and Humvees were smoldering wrecks while the three larger vehicles were intact, flashes of gunfire appeared from every level of the parking garage and she could barely make out a squad of Marines pinned down behind one of the destroyed Humvees by the sniper. Speaking of which Barbara spotted the lone figure on the roof of the garage, only accessible via stairwell. That is unless you have the ability to fly, or glide down in her case.

"Alex I'm in position, have your guys ready to move in sixty seconds!"

" _Roger_ _that!_ _Alright boys our guardian angel just arrived, we move in sixty!"_

With that Barbara leapt of the roof and let her cape carry her down behind the stairwell where she could finally make out the sniper. He held a high powered, semi-automatic rifle in his hands and wore a metallic helmet and armor plates over a red under suit and Barbara instantly recognized the uniform. Deadshot, the most skilled marksmen in the world. This would be tricky, she had to get him away from his weapons and force him to fight her with his fists, otherwise she'd end up like she did in the sewers only this time Alex wouldn't be here to save her.

45 Seconds

Deadshot hadn't seen her land, he was too busy lining up his next shot to notice so it was now or never. Barbara readied a batarang and broke cover, running in a dead sprint to him.

30 Seconds

He'd heard her boots hitting the floor as she ran and was in the process of spinning around to fire at her when she threw her batarang. Her aim was on point as the batarang buried itself in his weapons receiver, jamming the bolt in place and rendering the weapon useless. That's when he threw it down and reached for his pistol.

15 Seconds

Barbara used her momentum to barge into him, throwing him off balance and causing his pistol to drop from his grasp and clatter to the floor where she then kicked it out of reach. Deadshot had recovered however and sent his fist slamming into the side of her head before kicking her legs out from under her.

5 Seconds

"Batgirl, does Batman think so little of me that he sends his lackeys after me instead of facing me himself? Well I'll just have to rectify that, won't I." He sneered.

Time.

Down inside the lower levels of the garage the sounds of gunfire picked up as the squad of Marines entered and started clearing their way through the structure. It wouldn't be long until they reached the roof, Barbara just needed to hold her own until they did. Deadshot was aware of that fact as well though and he quickly changed his mind about fighting and instead bypassed her to recover his pistol. Barbara couldn't let him escape, not after killing so many Marines, so she scrambled to her feet and reached Deadshot just as he was picking up his weapon. Barbara quickly stomped her boot down on his hand, causing him to grunt in pain, before she picked up the weapon herself.

"You little bitch!" Deadshot shouted, taking a step towards her but stopped when Barbara raised the pistol level with his chest.

Barbara didn't know what was coming over her but it felt wrong, so wrong. It went against everything Bruce had taught her but how many more people would die if she let him escape. A part of her wanted to do it, Alex made it look so easy when he did so why was she hesistating? The weapon in her hand was already leveled, all she had to do was apply pressure to the trigger, causing the firing pin to strike the rounds primer and send the bullet flying out of the barrel towards Deadshot, but as much as she tried to rationalize doing it she couldn't stop her hand from trembling in fear. Deadshot was able to pick up on this and Barbara felt that he was smirking behind his mask.

"Can't do it, can you? Come on Batgirl, stop being a pussy and pull the trigger. We both know those Marines will kill me for what I've done, might as well get it over with." He said as he closed the distance between them and removed his mask.

"I…No…" Barbara whispered quietly, lowering the weapon. She couldn't believe this, he'd let her do it?

"DO IT!" Deadshot shouted, taking her hand and forcing the muzzle against his forehead. "PULL THE TRIGGER!"

No, this wasn't right. Why had she picked up this stupid gun? Why did he want her to kill him? He had her hands in a death grip keeping the pistol against his head so Barbara did the only thing she could think of and kneed him in the groin. Her hands were freed as Deadshot crumpled to his knees and she quickly backed away from him, tossing the pistol over the guard rail as she did. It was at this moment that the Marines stormed the rooftop.

"Coward… you're weak!" Deadshot shouted as he was restrained by Marines.

"No, I won't do it. You have a lot to answer for Deadshot but I won't be your judge."

"Fool, this is far bigger than you could possibly imagine. You think you saved these men, saved Quinn? This was just a demonstration. My employer isn't afraid of the military and soon you, Quinn, and all the rest of these costumed villains and vigilantes will be destroyed!" He raved, almost fanatically before receiving a blow to the back of the head from Alex's buttstock, rendering him unconscious. Either he had been brainwashed or he truly believed in the goal of whoever had hired him, whatever it was.

"Shut up you! Take this fucker away!" Alex ordered. Two Marines then brought Deadshot to his feet and dragged him away. "Thanks for the help, we'd have been dead without you."

"Right, anytime Sergeant. You guys going to be alright?"

"Sergeant, hostile reinforcements en-route!" One of the Marines that had accompanied Alex shouted.

"Does that answer your question? Jimenez, where are we at with clearing the route?" Alex replied before addressing the Marine.

"Trucks been moved but we only have three vehicles operational." He reported back.

"Can we get the wounded out?"

"Should have enough room Sergeant, I'll radio the guys at the airport and have Corpsmen on standby."

"Alright let's get these guys loaded up, Batgirl you with us?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure you get to the airport." Should be a simple enough affair, they'd move Harley and the wounded out of here while the Marines who could still fight regrouped with the SWAT teams holed up a few blocks down. Once everyone was loaded Barbara and Alex climbed into the same truck Harley was in. Harley looked at Barbara in surprise as she sat in the seat across from her.

"Brat, uh I mean, Batgirl! What are you doing here!?"

"Saving your life it would seem. Again."

"Oh, well thanks for that I guess."

"Batgirls good people Harley, saved my life after your boy tried to have me killed."

"Fuck, I'm sorry you got hurt because of me again." She said with downcast eyes. She studied the floor plate for a second before looking up at Barbara, her blue eyes boring into hers. "Batgirl…I know I've caused nothing but grief ta you and yer friends but…thank you… for saving my friend. I gotta lot to make up to you guys and I swear I will." Barbara actually believed her when she said that.

"I'm sure you will, but obviously it's going to take more than words." She told her sternly.

"I know, whatever you guys need name it. Once I'm sane again, that is."

"You will be. Once we get to Miramar the Navy will work their special brand of magic and make your head right again."

"The Navy has magic? I knew it! How else could they keep those giant metal ships floating in the ocean!" She exclaimed excitedly. Barbara raised an eyebrow and Alex rubbed his forehead before correcting himself.

"Wha?…No, not actual magic Harley. The Navy has their own psychiatrists, I had to go see one after…you know…" An awkward silence came over the two at the mention of that night. Not wanting to intrude on the two Barbara looked out the window to see that they had finally reached the airport and were pulling onto the tarmac towards a waiting C-130, but before she could relax Barbara saw several black SUV's plow through the gate and race towards them.

"Uh, guys we got trouble." She informed Alex and he looked out the window to see the what was going on. He swore as he removed the magazine from his rifle and counted the remaining bullets before reinserting it.

"Don't suppose you carry any ammo on that utility belt of yours?" He asked but she shook my head no. "Alright, well I only got eleven rounds left so fighting's out of the question. Once this truck stops we head straight for that plane, got it?"

"What about these guys?" Barbara asked referring to the wounded Marines riding in the other trucks and their drivers but she needn't have bothered as the Marine manning the mounted machine gun, Jimenez she remembered his name was, began firing at the SUV's once they got in range, shredding the engine block of the first vehicle and killing the driver.

"They got this! Get some Jimenez!" Alex replied, congratulating Jimenez on his shooting.

"Oorah Sergeant!" Jimenez called down from above.

Barbara could see the C-130 now and was relieved to see that it already had its engines started on the runway and even more relieved to see Humvees racing down the tarmac to intercept the SUV's and take the fire off us. Our MRAP screeched to a stop in front of the planes ramp and Barbara grabbed Harley as Alex opened the doors and rushed her up the ramp and onto the plane were the crew chief directed them to some seats. Barbara had just gotten Harley strapped in when Alex came running up the ramp, the MRAPs already headed towards the rendezvous point with their wounded as the ramp was raised and the plane started accelerating down the runway. That's when Barbara realized she was still onboard.

"Wait, I can't leave!" She told the crew chief urgently but there was nothing he could do.

"Too late for that Ma'am, we're already in the air."

Crap.

… **Mission Complete…**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Just a heads up, I'll be going on a long training op (a very long one) in a few weeks and most likely won't be able to update while there. That being said I'll be updating on Monday's as well as Friday's until then to provide you guys with as much content as I can. As much as I don't like not being able to update for an extended period of time but the Marine Corps comes first. Anyways, enjoy the chapters coming up until then and stick around until I'm able to return (or jump ship now if you want, but if you've come this far I assume you have some interest here otherwise you wouldn't be reading this). Lastly I want to say thanks to everyone who's liked and reviewed, you guys are the best!**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-StormTrooper96**

The flight from Gotham had been smooth but to say that they were relaxed during the trip was impossible. Once the adrenaline wore off the realization of what had happened set in and Alex had sat in silence, replaying the events of the battle in his mind, trying to think of what he could have done to prevent the casualties they'd taken. Five Marines, including the commanding officer, had been killed and twelve more were wounded, not to mention the casulties the GCPD took, and he couldn't help but feel responsible, after all it had been his idea to get Harley help in the first place. Had he just let her be imprisoned none of this would have happened. But dwelling on it and blaming himself would be detrimental to his state of mind and he had no intention of joining Harley at an asylum.

Once they landed at Edwards Air Force Base it had been a three-hour drive to the Miramar installation, arriving late in the evening. At the Brig Barbara, still in her Batgirl suit, and Alex got Harley checked in with the MP's and placed in a cell away from the facilities actual prisoners, they didn't need those guys bothering her. In the morning, she'd be properly checked in before being introduced to her new psychologist. Alex didn't like leaving her there by herself overnight but they weren't authorized to stay overnight so, after promising to visit once he was able to he and Barbara left and caught a ride some miles north from a very surprised taxi driver to Camp Pendleton.

General Anderson had booked a hotel room on base for Alex in advance and had some of his effects brought in so after a quick change to a two-bed suite they were finally able to get out of their work clothes, shower, and change into more comfortable civilian wear (Barbara obviously had to borrow some of Alex's). Barbara was currently in the shower while Alex was relaxing on his bed and watching _Black Hawk Down_ on the TV. He was about halfway through the movie and had been loudly cheering on the main characters as they fought their way through Mogadishu when Barbara came out of the bathroom wearing an oversized t-shirt and pajama bottoms. She sat in the nearby chair and cast her attention to the movie, watching the very realistic depiction of combat intently during the movies battles.

"How do they…you do that?" She suddenly asked, catching Alex off guard.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, pausing the movie and turning his attention to her.

"Shoot...kill people. Bru…Batman taught us not to, that it was the one line we could never cross, but I've seen you do it a few times and I was wondering how you do it so easily." Oh boy, it was going to be one of those talks.

"Alright look Barbara. I don't kill people like it's nothing and frankly I'm a bit insulted that you'd think about me." Honestly what kinda monster do you think I am? The only people I've killed had deserved it and while I can joke about killing the act itself is not something I enjoy. I remember General Mattis once reasoned _"…There are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot."_ Alex definitely thought Insurgents, ISIS, gangbangers, and rogue soldiers definitely fall into that category. Seriously though, fuck ISIS…

"Sorry, that was wrong of me." She apologized after realizing her mistake.

"Forget about it. What's brought this on?"

"When I was on the roof Deadshot and I were fighting. I gained control of his weapon and turned it on him…" Fuck, she crossed that line and didn't like what she saw on the other side.

"…And you thought about shooting him."

"Yes, he killed so many people and I couldn't let him escape to kill more. That's the first time I've ever had the idea of killing someone cross my mind and I didn't like it, it felt wrong. but I couldn't do it. Then he tried to make me, placed the muzzle against his head, screamed at me to pull the trigger, and called me a coward when I didn't."

"That's fucked man, no one should be put in that situation… but you're not a coward. You did the right thing and Batman would be proud of you, I know I am." She's a stronger person than she realizes, more than him at least. Alex would have pulled that trigger without a second thought after what he did to those men.

"I know but I don't understand why I couldn't do it, it seems so simple watching you do it." Great, she really wants to dive into the ethics of warfare.

"It's more than just pulling the trigger, you have to want to kill. Especially in a fight cause like we were just watching, you're not only worried about yourself but the guys to the left and right of you. Like I told you before I care more about getting you guys home alive than I do about some insurgents or whoever. But like you said you've been conditioned not to kill people, you don't have the mindset that allows you to take a life." That's not some bullshit either. From day one the Marine Corps begins to instill that warrior mentality into recruits, supplemented with lessons taught in the classroom to training scenarios to produce Marines capable of taking the fight to the enemy and killing them, but at the same time you have to remember that the whole world is watching you. Despite however much you want to make the enemy suffer for the atrocities they've committed you can't cause unnecessary suffering.

"And you do?"

"I've been in the Marine Corps for seven years' now, our entire culture is built around fighting wars. Just as Batman conditioned you to not take lives, the Marine Corps conditioned me to be able to. But just because I can doesn't mean that I should, in fact sometimes it can be against our interest to go in guns blazing. You can't just go into battle thinking only with your trigger finger, you need to keep a level head and identify who your targets are, assess the threat level and determine what amount of force to use, and act accordingly."

"Never thought of it that way but I see what you mean, and your right. With your job and the danger you guys face being over there you should have the capability to kill someone but it's nice to know that you also have options."

"Right. But fighting terrorists and protecting American interests is my job not yours. You guys do a great job of keeping the home front safe while we're over there and how you've managed to do so for so long without killing is beyond me. Since being in Gotham I've killed more people than I ever had in country, but taking a life can weigh on you if you let it, and if pointing a gun at someone's eating you up this bad I hope for your sake you don't actually have to use one. But don't be afraid to learn to use one, you know what they say about better to have one and not need it than to not have it and need it."

"I won't but I also think I won't start carrying a gun either, but I hear they have recreational uses. Might try that sometime if you want?" Eh, good enough he guessed.

"Hell yeah I'm down to go to a range with you, we'll just have to wait till we get outta Cali. Can't use any of the fun guns in this communist state, speaking of which ever been to Cali before?" Alex asked, glad that they had changed the conversation to a more pleasant topic.

"No, but I've heard it's a pretty cool state."

"Yeah, if you can look past the unreasonable gun laws, rampant liberalism, and bad traffic. There's a reason people have started calling it Commiefornia."

"Ha ha, that's actually pretty funny. But I agree, the local government is a bit paranoid with guns, even Gotham doesn't have as much restriction. You must hate it here."

"Eh, other than those things it's not so bad. There's a lot of stuff to do, especially here in SoCal. In fact, I plan on going out tomorrow, maybe meet some beautiful girl who knows?"

"Uh, excuse you, beautiful girl right here?" She exclaimed and Alex looked at her more closely. He'd never really looked at her that way before, to busy with the mission to pay any attention but now that she brought her looks to his attention he couldn't deny that she was beautiful and would make anyone happy to be with her…but no, she was like the little sister Alex never knew he wanted.

"Barbara, you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever known and anyone would be lucky to have you, but we're just friends." Alex hopes he hasn't hurt her feelings but at the same time he found it amusing to have put her in the friend zone instead of the other way around however she just chuckles to herself.

"Pfft, I was just messing around Alex, I know you still have feelings for Harley. You'll be good for her, I know that. If anyone can help her get better it's you and if you need my help I'll be there for you." Man, she's the greatest, always doing her best to help him out without asking for anything in return. That and she hasn't tried to kill him.

"Thanks Barbara. Have I told you how great a friend you are?"

"Mm, once or twice but I don't mind hearing it again."

"Well it's like past midnight so you'll have to wait till morning. Anyways, I know you're not supposed to be here but you should take the opportunity to relax while you can. Way things are looking shits about to go down in a bad way for a lot of people. What Deadshot said to you on the roof, about all the hero's and villain's being in danger, that's gotta lot of higher ups worried and I wouldn't be surprised if General Anderson reassigns us with hunting these guys down."

"You don't think someone's crazy enough to actually take on ALL the hero's and villain's out there, do you? They'd have to take out the Justice League and a lot of people have tried with little success." This was true, the League would present a sizable challenge to any force using conventional means of warfare like these guys were. Although if they were to get their hands on something like a nuke...

"If they got the manpower it's entirely possible. Bullets are a good way of getting rid of problems, and someone out there has a problem with both the League and its enemies it seems. I know the General and his people are reviewing the drone footage and interrogating Deadshot so hopefully we get answers soon. Hopefully Harley gets better sooner rather than later, I don't think we got that much time before something else pops off."

… **Mission Complete…**


	24. Chapter 24

In the short time Harley had been in the brig she could tell that it was already an improvement over being in Arkham, one noticeable difference being how quiet it was. At Arkham there'd always be some form of noise going on in the background, be it the various noises the patients made or the constant dripping of a leaky pipe. But it was blissfully quiet here and she spent the first few days sitting quietly in her cell.

The staff was also more pleasant here as well, mainly because they weren't coming in and out of her cell like the doctors at Arkham but that was probably because the majority of the staff were Military Police instead of psychiatrists but at least they were better guards than the ones at Arkham. Harley had been here for two days and there hadn't been one escape attempt. That was the one good thing about Arkham, it was always exciting.

Today She'd be meeting her new psychologist. Two MP's had escorted her from her cell, after placing her in another straight jacket, and sat her down in his office. He had yet to arrive so Harley sat patiently, looking over the room. The name plaque on the desk read Lieutenant Harrison, MD and there was a framed picture of a woman and child next to it. Harley looked over to the wall which had a poster of a cat hanging from a tree branch with the words _Hang In There_ stylized on the bottom which got a laugh out of her at how cute it was. The window also had a nice view of the San Diego skyline, which did a good job of reminding her of home.

Barely a week out of Gotham and she was already homesick. Harley was staring out the window in thought when the door finally opened and a man in his early thirties walked in carrying a large folder that she assumed to be her record jacket.

"Ah, Dr. Quinzel your early. Although I suppose that's more on your guards than you, regardless you're here now and that's what matters. I'm Lieutenant Harrison and it's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted with a warm smile and Harley couldn't help but smile back as he sat behind his desk.

"Pleasures mine Doc but, ah, I don't think I'm much of a Doctor anymore. Kinda the opposite in fact."

"Nonsense, you put in the work to earn that title and nothing in your file says it's been revoked. So you made a mistake, a rather big one, but no one's perfect. There's no reason you can't go back to your old profession."

"Well the law says otherwise but I appreciate yer optimism Doc."

"Well your record says you haven't committed murder, just a variety of minor offenses, which is surprising considering you're association with the Joker. Really the only thing that stands out is theft of explosive ordinance, so other than that there's really nothing holding you back."

"Well even if I could I don't think anyone'd come ta me for psychological help."

"Be that as it may there are plenty of other things you could do. I understand that you were also a skilled gymnast, ever think about giving that a try again?"

"Sometimes, it was fun in college and I do miss it a lot but I don't think I could go anywhere with it do ta my background and all."

"Your criminal past does give you quite a few roadblocks but I'm confident that with hard work and dedication you'll succeed in whatever you choose to do. Now back to the matter at hand. I've gone over your file from Arkham and I saw that they've diagnosed you with Schizophrenia along with mild bipolar disorder and that they have you on antipsychotic medication, but there has been little to no signs of improvement. Would you say that this statement is correct?"

"Yeah, Arkham doesn't have the best history of rehabilitating its patients. Doctor Leland tried ta help and parta me wanted ta get better but somehow I'd always end up back with Joker."

"He seems to be the center of all this, doesn't he?"

"He's dead." Harley replied coldly which caught the Lieutenant off guard.

"Really? I hadn't heard…how do you feel about that?"

"I'm glad he's gone an I hope he's rotting in Hell. He used me, hurt my friend, and tried to kill me. I'm just ashamed of myself for falling for him in the first place. If I hadn't…things would be so much different."

"Yes, I suppose they would but it's good that you recognize your mistakes and are taking steps to making things right and I look forward to helping you along that path. So, here's what's going to happen, I'm prescribing you a lower dosage of meds until further notice. I have a suspicion that the dosage the Arkham staff prescribed you may have been detrimental to your health instead of beneficial. I'm also going to get in contact with Sergeant Westbrooks command and schedule sessions for the two of you to interact, participating in psychosocial activities will give you both time to work out your issues and will help you get ready to interact with others again before ultimately reintegrating into society. I also want you to pick up gymnastics again, a healthy body supports a healthy mind, right? After our sessions we'll visit the obstacle course and you can practice for an hour there. In addition, I'm going to assign you some literature to read and report on weekly."

"Geez that's a lot Doc, anything else?"

"No, but there is something I want you to put some thought into. Given your relationship with Sergeant Westbrook you've been exposed to the Marine culture in some manner, correct?"

"I was his date to the ball once if that's what ya mean."

"Mmm, not quite. The ball is more traditional, what I'm asking for is do you know what makes Marines, Marines?"

"Uh, killing terrorists while shouting obscenities?" That's what the movies show an all.

"No, but they are rather good at that aren't they. I'm talking about their three core values: Honor, Courage, Commitment. Those values define Marines, but really anyone can apply those values in their everyday life. I want you to think about those values and what they mean to you and how you can use them to better yourself as a person."

"I'm committed ta getting sane again if that counts."

"As a matter of fact it does. What you're doing now is a very big commitment. It also took courage to turn yourself over in the first place and that you're doing it to help your friend shows tremendous honor. You've already used these values without even knowing it!"

"Huh, I guess I did? Who woulda thought?"

"You've already taken your first steps. Now I believe that is all I have scheduled for today, gotta go make those arrangements and all. We'll begin our first session bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Hey Doc I got one last question. Do you guys have magic? Cause Alex was joking about you using yer Navy magic on my brain ta make it better."

"Ah, yes, that magic. It's more of a joke the Marines use to poke fun at the Corpsmen, being that if you change your socks, take Motrin, and hydrate you'll be cured of any ailment, instantly."

"Wow, I'd have never thought of that! I'm gonna try it tonight!" Harley exclaimed. She knew that he had just told her it was a joke but maybe there was some truth to it? The Lieutenant just laughed and smiled at her.

"Let me know how that works out for you. We'll meet again, same time tomorrow."

And that's how Harley's first day went. Harley was escorted back to her cell and released from the straight jacket as another guard brought a stack of books from the lieutenant's office and set them down on the bed. All of the books were military related and looked to be recounts of important battles or notable Soldiers that showed remarkable character. With not much to do other than stare at the wall Harley grabbed one of the books and began reading. She only got a few pages in before boredom overcame her so she tried out that trick the Lieutenant told her about, changing socks, downing some Motrin, and drinking a glass of water but all it did was make her tired so she went to sleep.

 **...**

After their second session Harley was given a set of PT clothes consisting of a green T-shirt and shorts and told to change before being brought to the nearest obstacle course, which looked kinda underwhelming as it was built out of wooden logs in a stretch of land covered with soft bark. As they pulled up Harley was surprised to see Alex waiting for her with some redheaded chick. Harley assumed the chick had to be Batgirl as she had accidently been flown out here as well. Harley had never seen her outside of costume before but she looked…normal.

"Hey, how's it going? You doing alright, Navy aint working any of their voodoo on you are they?" Alex asked as Harley was brought up to the course.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine Alex."

"Good to hear. Anyways, I've been told that I'll be coming to some sessions with you, work out some issues. Although in my opinion the best way to work out issues is in the grappling pit but I suppose a little friendly competition will work for now."

"I see ya also brought our special friend along, she gonna get in on this little competition as well?" Harley asked while nodding her head towards Batgirl.

"Yes, she is. Go on, introduce yourself." He told her but she looked reluctant to do so. "Come on we're all friends here, one team one fight and we can't be a team if we're strangers to each other." Alex reasoned and Batgirl sighed and shook her head.

"I wouldn't exactly say friends yet, but fine. If you can trust her, I'll give her a chance." She replied before turning to Harley, glaring at her with her green eyes. "Barbara Gordon, pleasure to meet you peacefully for once Harley Quinn."

"Quinzel."

"I'm sorry?"

"My last name. It's Quinzel not Quinn. I don't wanna be that person anymore." Harley muttered while staring at her feet. Harley looked back up to her and saw that her eyes had softened.

"I…my apologizes. Harleen Quinzel. It's nice to meet you."

"Thank you, Barbara. Gordon, Gordon, why does that…no, ya can't be…you're not the Commissioner's kid are ya?"

"Well I do call him dad, so…"

"No way! Wow, that's…your dad must be so proud of you!"

"He doesn't know."

"Oh, well I'm sure he would be."

"More like he'd throw a fit and try to ground me like I was still a child." She said and Harley couldn't help but laugh.

"Right, well let's get on to the course. We'll be competing for best time through the O-course. The course itself isn't particularly difficult but it can be exhausting. I'll run through first so you guys can see how to properly navigate it." Alex said as he got ready to start the course. Harley would describe how to maneuver through the course but it's rather difficult to put into words without sounding boring, so if you really care go and YouTube that shit. Either way Alex completed the course in just over two minutes, which she was determined to beat. Harley waited patiently as Barbara went through, beating Alex's score by five seconds and bringing the time to beat down to a minute and fifty-six.

Harley stepped up to the start point and waited for Lieutenant Harrison to give the go. Once he did she took off, vaulting over the first obstacle. Maneuvering through the obstacles was simple for her, the routines she'd done in school were way more difficult than this and suddenly she found herself at the final obstacle, the rope climb. Harley jumped up and grabbed the rope, wrapping herself around it. Thanks to her light weight she was able to use her arms to muscle her way up the rope and touch the top. Lieutenant Harrison stopped the clock once she climbed down and touched the ground.

"One minute and twenty-seven seconds. I think we have our winner."

"Good shit Harley, you still got it." Alex praised as he and Barbara walked over to the finish. "Course I was only going slow for demonstrational purposes." He added with a smirk.

"Oh, sure you were, your just getting old Alex." Harley joked back.

"I'm only twenty-five and besides if I'm old then what does that make you? You've got a year on me remember?" Ah shit, forgot about that!

"Eh, technicalities. Your still an old man."

"Just wait till we get to the grappling pit, this old man's gonna kick your ass." He said with a smirk. Man he really wanted ta go at it, who was I ta say no?

"Well, we'll see about that won't we?"

 **...**

And see they would. After another week of counseling Lieutenant Harrison decided that Harley was making enough progress that as a reward he allowed her to participate in a grappling match with Alex. So, they were brought out to one of the grappling pits. Harley sat on her knees across from Alex as they waited for a martial arts instructor to give a safety brief. Lieutenant Harrison, Barbara, a Corpsman, and some MP's stood off to the side watching.

"Alright you two, this match will last three minutes and you will remain on your knees at all times. Remember your tap out procedures, tap the ground, tap yourself, tap your buddy. Understand?"

"YES!" They both shouted. They shook hands and the match began. Harley had gotten the best of Alex back in Gotham but they'd been fighting without any rules then. Having to remain on her knees was a serious handicap for Harley as she was used to hopping around her opponents and using their confusion to get the upper hand. No such luck this time.

Alex didn't wait a second before tackling her to the ground and putting her in a headlock. Harley could feel him tightening his arm around her neck so she tucked her chin and pried his arm off her before rolling out from under him. Alex lost track of where she was so Harley scooted around behind him and put him in a headlock of her own.

"WHOO, GET HIM!" The crowd watching them shouted in delight as Harley began to apply pressure. Maybe this would be easier than she thought, Alex had never really been good at hand to hand fighting, even if he did have a green MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) belt. Harley could hear him gasping for air as she squeezed with her arm and began to smile when she thought he was about to tap out. What she didn't count on was Alex using his strength to flip her off his back. Harley landed hard on her back and was momentarily stunned.

"OH SHIT!" The crowd cried as she got back up just in time to get knocked back down. Alex then got on top of her, straddling her waist. Before she could do anything to defend herself Alex quickly executed an armbar from the mount and she suddenly felt the pain in her elbow as her arm was forced to straighten out. The pain came so fast and was too much to endure so Harley had no choice but to tap Alex's leg in defeat. Once he felt the taps he quickly let go and helped her up.

"Ugh, fuck that hurt!" Harley groaned, rubbing her elbow as Alex smiled happily to himself. Harley guessed she did owe him that after all.

 **...**

Another two weeks passed and Harley could tell that whatever the Lieutenant had been doing to treat her was working. The lower dosage of meds kept her mind clear, focused, and combined with the group therapy sessions with Alex and Bab's, and the physical activities she was feeling better than she had in a long time.

Harley had even finished and wrote a report on the book _On_ _Killing_ : _The_ _Psychological_ _Cost_ _of_ _Learning_ _to_ _Kill in_ _War and Society_ by Dave Grossman. The fact that it dealt with the psychological aspect of what service members deal with in times of war intrigued her and she thought she could use it to understand what Alex had felt during his time in Afghanistan. He didn't talk about it much when they saw each other after his deployment, whether it was because he didn't want to bring it up or to spare her the details she didn't know, but she did know that he'd killed people and lost a friend while over there. Harley hadn't even known that he'd gone back a second time and she couldn't even begin to imagine what he must have felt without anyone to call home to,it made her feel even more guilty about what she'd done. Anyways the Lieutenant was very impressed by her report and that he could tell how much thought she'd put into the book from reading it, saying that it was a good indicator of how well her mind was recovering.

Harley was doing so well that the MP's didn't even bring a strait jacket with them to escort her anymore and there was even talk about moving her out of the brig and into a more normal environment. Lieutenant Harrison said that she was the probably the best case he's ever treated and at the rate she was going it would only be a few more weeks before he'd recommend her to a medical board to be declared officially sane again.

As for what was happening out in the real world, Alex kept her constantly updated. His advisor was investigating the disappearances of less famous villains and vigilantes across the country to see if this anti villain/vigilante para-military group was behind it. They had yet to learn anything useful from Floyd regarding them other than they had large numbers and were backed by wealthy individuals, whose identities remained unknown.

Homeland Security was apparently looking into the matter while the DOD stood by for any actionable intel. One thing Harley found to be odd regarding these soldiers and whoever they worked for was that Floyd had said they were targeting superheroes and villains yet they had hired him onto their side, which was a bit contradictory to what he had said their objective was. One thing was clear to her though, they wanted her dead and they weren't afraid to take risks if it meant getting to her.

 **...**

"Sergeant, may I speak with you in private?" They had just wrapped up another group therapy session and Lieutenant Harrison wanted to speak to Alex away from Harley for some reason and it made her feel a bit nervous not being able to hear what they were saying as she sat alone in the office. They'd been having these sessions for just about two months now and not once had Lieutenant Harrison ever asked to speak with Alex in private.

Babs usually tagged along to these sessions and Harley appreciated that she was willing to participate in her getting better, but she hadn't been able to make it today. It was funny, despite all the times they'd fought in Gotham Babs didn't hold any of it against her, even if she had every right to hate her guts. But instead of wasting her energy hating Harley she put in the effort to get to know her and while they weren't exactly best pal's they were beginning to understand each other. Alex had told her Barbara was the reason that he hadn't just killed her that night at the docks, that she had made him question how he really felt about Harley and that sparing her life had been directly influenced by her, so Harley really did owe her a lot. Had she not intervened in Alex's life Harley most likely wouldn't be here.

Before she could reflect on anything else the door opened and the two men walked back in. Lieutenant Harrison sat back behind his desk and smiled as Alex remained standing by the door, arms crossed and a grin on his face.

"I have good news for you Doctor Quinzel, Sergeant Westbrook and I just got done talking with the senior medical officer. After seeing the progress you've made here both of us agree that you are ready to return to the real world. I've sent the recommendation for your medical board up and we should hear back from them shortly."

"Wait, ya mean I'm cured!?"

"Yes, I believe that you are now of a sound and healthy mind. However, you must now convince the board of your sanity to be released from this facility. I won't lie to you, it will be tough. The board will be held by the senior medical officer, the senior enlisted advisor, and the facilities commanding officer. They'll be looking for any reason to fail you so I need you to be fully prepared to stand in front of them and convince them that you are a fully functioning human being capable of rational thought."

"Don't worry about it too much though, the Lieutenant, Barbara, and myself will be there to speak on your behalf as well. We also have written testimonies from the guys in Gotham recommending you, not to mention the General's input. His will be the most influential to the board in my opinion." Alex added.

"Although even without the General's input I believe that you'll be able to persuade the board of your sanity yourself and Sergeant Westbrook and I will do what we can to make sure you're ready."

"I…I don't know what ta say guys. Ya really think I'm sane?" Harley could hardly believe what they were saying even though she's waited so long to hear those words.

"Course I do, I am a Doctor after all. Sergeant, would you'd be so kind as to walk her through the proper conduct for the board?"

"No problem Sir, come on Harley let's go. This is gonna be a military board so there's a lot of customs and courtesies you need to learn if you want to make a good impression."

Harley followed Alex out the door, looking back at the Lieutenant who just smiled and motioned for her to go. She'd never thought this day would come, after four years of madness she was finally going to be herself again, Harleen Quinzel! Harley was so happy that she skipped gleefully through the halls as she followed Alex out of the building, earning odd stares from the Sailors but she didn't care, she was gonna be sane again!

 **...Mission Complete…**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: The board members depicted here do not represent the Command Staff of NAVCONBRIG Miramar and are purely fictional. Any similarities to persons living or deceased are purely coincidental.**

Today was the day. Lieutenant Harrison's request for Harley's mental health review board had been approved a week after it was made and here she was waiting in the hallway to the brigs court room, MP's stood on either side of her dressed in full gear and armed with semi-automatic shotguns. Alex and Babs had yet to show up, probably stuck in the SoCal traffic but she hoped they got here soon, otherwise they might not be let in.

During that time Alex had been coaching her on how to conduct herself during the board, every move and word she said would be scrutinized by the people deciding her future. How she walked in and introduced herself would set the bar for how the board viewed her so she had learned how to march, execute facing movements, and to speak in a military manner, as such she had to work on dropping her accent for the duration of the board as they might not take her seriously if she used it.

Finally, Harley was given a set of civilian clothes consisting of a dark grey suit, dress skirt, low heeled shoes, and her hair was put into a bun at the back of her head. She'd insisted on wearing her hair differently but Lieutenant Harrison said the professional look would get her some points with the board.

Speaking of the Lieutenant he was inside the court room presenting Harley's record to the board, she had to wait until he was done before entering. Harley kept going over what she was going to say in her head, oblivious to everything else when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, shaking her from her thoughts.

"Earth to Harleen, come in?" Harley looked over to see Alex and Barbara had finally made it. Alex was wearing his Service Alphas, the one with the green pants and jacket over the khaki shirt and tie. He looked nice, if a bit uncomfortable, in the uniform. Harley then realized that she had been staring and quickly looked up to him.

"Sorry, just thinking. You look nice." She smiled and he chuckled softly, straightening out his uniform.

"Thanks, you too. Gotta say I like seeing you in normal clothes than whatever that outfit was that you used to wear."

"I second that, you look like a new person Harley…very professional." Barbara added with a smile.

"Ah, you guys are gonna make me blush!"

"So, you ready? I imagine the LT's been talking you up for a good minute already, shouldn't be long before you go in."

"I'm a bit nervous but yeah I think I got this."

"Good. Remember, confidence and bearing will take you a long way in there. Not that you'll need it but Barbara and I got your back. Oh, and one last thing, if they ask you some dumbass question like 'what's your favorite cereal?' they're trying to throw off your bearing. Just keep a straight face and answer the question as if it were any other."

"Right, I got this, I'm good." Harley said, getting herself pumped up to go.

"I sure hope so, cause it looks like your about to go." Bab's said, nodding towards the pair of MP's coming down the hall towards them.

"Doctor Quinzel, the board is ready for you." The first MP said. Harley looked back at Alex nervously but he just gripped her shoulder and nodded.

"You'll be fine." He said before leading Barbara down another hall that would take them to the viewing stands.

Harley followed the MP's down the short hall, stopping before the door to check herself over one last time before taking a deep breath to calm herself down. The doors were then opened and she marched in as best she could towards the podium standing across from the board. Three older men dressed in the Navy's equivalent to Alex's uniform sat behind a large oak table, a folder that Harley assumed to be her record open in front of each of them. She came to a halt in front of the podium, going to the position of attention and facing the center board member.

"Doctor Harleen Quinzel, reporting to the senior member of the board as ordered." The line that Alex had her practice for hours came out smoothly and the board members looked surprised that she had even known to say that, one of them even jotting down a note. Harley saw Alex up in the stands give a quick thumbs up out of her peripheral vision and relaxed a bit.

"Stand at ease." The center board member said. Harley clasped her hands in front of her in a modified form of parade rest and read the name placards on the table. The man that had spoken was Captain Goulding, the brigs commanding officer. To his left sat Lieutenant Commander Ross, the senior medical officer, and on the right Master Chief Petty Officer Deluca, the senior enlisted advisor. "I trust you've been enjoying all that our facility has to offer."

"Yes Sir, it's a nice facility."

"Indeed, I'm quite proud of the work we do here. Perhaps you'll be our best case yet. Now Lieutenant Harrison has briefed us on your how your recovery is coming along and I think I speak for all of us when I say that the amount of progress you've made in such a short time is remarkable." Harley was sensing a 'but' in there.

"Thank you, Sir, Lieutenant Harrison has been very helpful in my recovery."

"I have no doubts about the Lieutenants capabilities as a medical professional, but on to you. Your record states that you have committed a number of felony charges over the past four years, along with the theft of explosive ordnance and endangering the life of a Marine. While your incident with Sergeant Westbrook has been resolved, these other charges have yet to be resolved and where it not for your diagnosis of insanity I would have you remain in this brig for several more years." He said sternly and I gulped in fear at the threat of being imprisoned again. "However due to the efforts of General Anderson those charges have been waived and we will instead be evaluating your mental faculties." Whew, that was a close one. I'd have to thank the General the next time I saw him.

"We've read the report you wrote on the literature Lieutenant Harrison provided for you. It was very well written for someone recovering from insanity. What made you choose that specific book to read?" Lieutenant Commander Ross asked once Captain Goulding was done talking.

"I saw that it was based on the psychological side of warfare, what the troops go through in times of war and as a former psychologist it peaked my interest. Although personally I thought it could help me understand what Sergeant Westbrook was dealing with after coming back from war. I tried to understand when he came back but I couldn't help him, and while I still can't relate to what he's been through I can at least understand where he's coming from." Harley answered and watched the LTCMDR write something down before looking back up at her.

"Interesting. Even when you should be focusing on your own health you put others before yourself, that is quite honorable of you. I'm sure Sergeant Westbrook appreciates the thought as well." The three then whispered amongst themselves before Master Chief Deluca spoke up.

"I just want to know one thing Quinzel, why have you put so much effort into your recovery, what do you have to gain from rushing through your treatment when you should be taking as much time as you need?"

"I…I just want to make up for all the terrible things I've done, Master Chief. I made a mistake all those years ago, and in doing so I lost my career, my best friend, and most of all I lost myself. My mind was warped into something else and I did so many awful things, things I'd never thought I'd do. He made into a mockery of what I once was and used me until I was no longer needed. Joker would have killed me if Alex…Sergeant Westbrook hadn't come back into my life and saved me. I owe it to him to get better and I know that nothing I do will ever make up for what I've done but I at least want the chance to try." Harley choked out and felt tears begin to run down her face but she just let them fall. Master Chief Deluca's eyes softened and he nodded his head.

"Thank you, Doctor Quinzel. For what it's worth I believe you when you say you want to make up for what you've done. Gentlemen, I don't think we need to hear anymore."

"Very well. Doctor Quinzel, you may excuse yourself." Captain Goulding ordered.

"Yes Sir, good morning Gentlemen." Harley replied after coming back to attention. She then executed an about face and marched back out into the hall so the board could talk amongst themselves.

The board had been shorter than expected, but clearly, they had seen enough. Harley had a good feeling that she'd won over Master Chief Deluca and Lieutenant Commander Ross, but the real decision sat with Captain Goulding. She sat down on bench while waiting and saw Lieutenant Harrison exit the court room and walk over to her.

"I think you did really well in there, from where I was standing I knew I was looking at a new woman." He said happily and she smiled a bit.

"Thanks Doc, I hope they can see that I was being sincere about everything."

"I have no doubts, they should be calling us back in shortly."

It was only ten minutes before they were allowed back in the court room. Harley had done the same greeting as before and stood behind the podium, facing the board. The folders and notepads were gone and she could see Captain Goulding signing a document before passing it over to the other two to sign as well before looking up at me.

"Doctor Quinzel, former criminal vigilante Harley Quinn, you have come before this board and presented your case to be declared clinically sane. I will admit that I came into this board with doubt that you were truly cured, but having watched you conduct yourself in such a manner as you did, displaying tact and maintaining bearing, answering our questions with sincerity and confidence I now believe Lieutenant Harrison was correct in his assessment of you. As commanding officer of this facility let me be the first to congratulate you on your newfound sanity." Captain Goulding said, grabbing the paper he had signed and crossing the room over to Harley where he presented a certificate of sanity to her.

"You…You mean?" She questioned, holding the certificate in her hands. There it was, signed by all three members of the board. This couldn't be real, could it? Any second now she'd wake up back in her cell at Arkham

"Congratulations Doctor Quinzel, you are sane." He said with a smile and shook her hand. Oh my god… this was real! Harley was officially sane! She looked up into the stands to see Alex and Barbara walking down to them, smiles on their faces.

"See, I told you, you could do it!" Alex cheered as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She knew they were still in a formal setting but Harley couldn't help it, she grabbed him up in a tight embrace. "Oof, ah, yep hello to you too!" He said in surprise but quickly returned the embrace. Harley held him for a second longer before pulling away and looking up at him.

"Thank you, Alex, for not giving up on me." Harley smiled.

"Hey, what are friends for? Besides, you'd do the same for me" Friends. It felt nice to be able to call each other that again.

"Harley, I'm proud of you. You've truly come a long way since leaving Gotham." Bab's cut in once Harley released Alex. Before she could say anything else Harley snatched her up in a hug to."

"Ah, thank you Babs! I owe you one too!"

"You can repay me now by letting me breathe again!" She grunted and Harley realized she was squeezing the oxygen out of her lungs.

"Heh, sorry I'm just so excited! I'm sane again can you believe it!?" She cheered happily, pretty sure she caught the board members smiling along with her. Harley said her thanks to them and Lieutenant Harrison before they were finally kicked out of the court room. They made their way outside as Harley was humming happily to herself and enjoying her new freedom, the bill of sanity clutched tightly in hand.

They'd only walked a few feet outside when Alex suddenly stopped and saluted someone. Harley looked to see who it was and saw that General Anderson was walking towards them, carrying a small binder in his hand.

"Doctor Quinzel, I hear congratulations are in order."

"I…yes Sir. I'm officially sane!" She said, presenting her certificate to him.

"Outstanding, however you do realize that it'll only get harder from here. As much as I'd like to let you enjoy your newfound sanity we need you all back in Gotham."

"Is something happening Sir?" Alex asked, concern written all over his face.

"I'll brief you all back in Gotham but things are about to kick off. Your flight leaves tomorrow at noon out of San Diego."

"Got it Sir."

"But since we're all celebrating I thought I might add to it. I've got something here for miss Gordon to commend her stellar performance in Gotham, Sergeant if you would?"

"Of course, Sir." Alex took the binder from General Anderson and walked around him to stand by his left side before opening the binder. "Certificate of Award. In appreciation of Distinguished Public Service to the Department of the Navy the Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Public Service Award to Barbara Gordon for services set forth in the following: For exceptionally distinguished public service on January twenty-second, two-thousand and seventeen. Barbara Gordon came to the aid of Marines and Sailors who came under attack while conducting prisoner transfer from Arkham Asylum to NAVCONBRIG Miramar. Barbara Gordon ambushed and defeated a hostile sniper that was preventing Marines from assaulting through their attackers and in doing so allowed the Marines freedom of movement on the battlefield and allowed them to defeat their attackers and protect their charge from harm. Barbara Gordon's actions saved the lives of many Marines and Sailors and reflects great credit upon herself and the American people. In recognition of her distinctive accomplishment and noteworthy contribution she is most deserving of the Department of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award." Alex read off before closing the binder and handing it back to General Anderson, who then handed it to Barbara.

Barbara looked stunned, this was the first time that she had received any official recognition for her actions as Batgirl but seeing what had happened that day she was definitely deserving of such an award. But that wasn't all that the General had for her.

"That's the Navy's thanks, but I spoke with the Commandant and we both felt that you are more than deserving of this." He said before extending his hand and placing something in the palm of her hand. Barbara opened her hand to reveal a black Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the insignia of the United States Marine Corps. "The Commandant wishes to extend his thanks for saving his Marines and has decided to name you an honorary Marine, Private First Class Gordon."

"I…I don't know what to say, this…I'm honored." Barbara stuttered out. It was about time that someone rewarded her for all the crap she'd gone through as Batgirl.

"You've more than earned it and I have no doubt that you'll make us proud. And Quinzel, follow her example and you'll go far in the new life that's been given to you. I expect you to earn one of these as well one day. For now, go out and celebrate, enjoy the day because I've already got a mission lined up for you guys when you get back."

"Yes Sir!" They all blurted out. He smiled and nodded one last time before turning back and walking away, leaving them alone in the parking lot.

"Wow, look at you PFC Gordon. Never thought I'd say that." Alex joked.

"I didn't ask for this! Don't get me wrong it's an honor, truly, but I'm not cut out for doing whatever you guys do!"

"Getting black out drunk and stacking bodies? Eh, give it a week and you'll be slaying bodies with the rest of us."

"What!? No!"

"Geez, would you relax. It's an honorary title, we're not actually expecting you to go deploy overseas and start offing terrorists. That's my job, remember? But you do have to call me Sergeant now, boot."

"Ugh, how did you put up with him Harley?" Barbara suddenly asked the newly reformed Harley.

"Patience and selective hearing."

"Ha ha, you're a fucking comedian." Alex replied sarcastically, arms crossed.

"I'd hope so, I did spend four years of my life dressed as a clown after all."

"Don't remind me, I'm still trying to forget." Barbara said, rubbing her forehead.

"Hey, didn't the General tell us to go and have fun? Now I don't know about you guys but I spent two months in the brig so as you can imagine I'm kinda eager to get out and do something other than stare at a wall all day."

"Hey, you're right. Let me get out of this uniform and then I'll show you guys everything SoCal has to offer."

"Sounds like a plan and hey, thanks again guys. You're the greatest friends I've ever had!" Harley meant that, truly she did.

Harley seriously owed these guys a lot, the guys back in Gotham too, and she knew she'd never be able to repay them. But that was neither here nor there, for the first time in four years Harley was herself again. She had escaped the madness that had consumed me and found a new purpose in life with new and old friends by herself. She'd make the most of this gift She'd been given, and help out however she could. Harley enjoyed her first and last night in SoCal, it was nice to unwind for a few hours but sadly it came to an end and they soon found themselves on a flight back to Gotham, where she'd finally be able to start her life over.

… **Mission Complete…**


	26. Chapter 26

"Ladies, Gentlemen over these past few months we've been reviewing drone footage from January twenty-second operation and it pains me to say that we've come up with nothing actionable. Whoever attacked us knew how to cover up their tracks well but I can say with certainty that all of our initial suspect groups can written off. That being said if you should run into these soldiers again, and I'm certain you will, try to capture one alive or at the very least their effects. While we do have Floyd Lawton in custody he is proving to be a tough nut to crack."

Alex, Harley, Ivy, and the Bats sat around Alex's living room as General Anderson finished briefing them about the unknown group that had attacked them. Pretty much nothing came up and it was driving the General crazy that these people were able to stay one step ahead of him.

"No statements, no declaration of war, nothing? I don't like not knowing who we're fighting Sir." Alex asked, already knowing the answer.

"Absolutely nothing Sergeant. I realize that I'm throwing you all in blind but trust me when I say that I don't have any other choice in the matter. You know as much as I do on the matter I'm afraid."

"I'll do some digging of my General, perhaps I can find whatever it is your men are missing." Batman chimed in and the General nodded in agreement.

"That would be appreciated Batman. Now just because we're facing an unknown threat doesn't mean that our original mission has changed, there are still a number of vigilante criminals loose in Gotham and we need them dealt with before we can refocus our priorities."

"Understood Sir. You said you had a new mission for us?"

"Indeed, I do Sergeant. While the Joker may be gone and Doctor Quinzel is on our side, his gang is still out there stirring up trouble in his name. Batman and the others that remained in Gotham have been doing their best to break them up but they haven't been able to track them down. But what concerns me is that about four weeks ago they suddenly dropped off the map and I don't like that. It's possible that their planning something big and I want it stopped. Dr. Quinzel I want you to take the team to their hideout and then I want them dealt with, permanently."

This was a test, it had to be. Eliminating the remnants of Joker's gang would be the last tie Harley had to severe to her old life and he wanted to see if she was capable of doing so. She looked nervous being put on the spot like that but she put on a brave face and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I think I know what hideout they'd be using. Shouldn't be too hard ta get to."

"Then gear up, you have one hour to depart."

"Yes Sir, Harley come with me, the rest of you gear up." Alex ordered, leading Harley over to the armory and opening the door. "There's extra BDU's in that trunk, find some close to your size and get dressed."

While she was doing that, Alex donned his own gear and unlocked the weapons cages, retrieving his IAR, M9, and magazines for each before picking out a suitable weapon for her, something lightweight and easy to manipulate to allow her to retain her preferred style of combat. After scanning the weapons and considering the benefits of each Alex finally settled on the Heckler and Koch MP5 sub-machine gun. The light weight weapon could be fired dual or single wield and packed enough rounds per minute to lay waste to anyone in its crosshairs.

Harley finished getting dressed as Alex op-checked the weapon, the black fatigues and combat boots looked a size too big for her but they'd have to do until they got actual uniforms made, and she'd changed her hair style to a single tail instead of two, probably to further distance herself from her old self.

"Here, this should suit your fighting style just right." Alex said, handing her the SMG and a belt of loaded magazines. She took the weapon and examined it, cycling the action and smiling as the bolt locked into place with a satisfying 'Click'.

"Wow, this is way nicer than the guns we'd get off the street! I remember my old one used ta jam a lot, probably a good thing too now that I think about as it never killed anyone."

"Well you shouldn't run into that problem with this one, if there's one thing the German's know how to make its quality weapons." Which is true, the same company that produced the SMG he'd just given her also made the IAR that he used and it hadn't failed on him once yet.

Speaking of weapons, the pistol he'd sent in to be made for Harley had arrived a week before they got back and it was absolutely beautiful, all the engravings had been made just right and was a vast improvement over the state he'd found it in. Alex still hasn't presented it to her yet though as he was saving it for a special occasion so it would be that much more meaningful.

With everything set they left for their respective vehicles, Harley navigating them towards where she believed the gang to be hiding. They ended up at an abandoned metro access point in Old Gotham, the section of subway below having been damaged and abandoned after an earthquake several years ago, the perfect place to hide a large group of criminals.

Alex took point as they descended the stairs to the platform below, Harley, Batman, and Ivy following close behind while Barbara and Robin brought up the rear. The inside of the platform was an absolute mess, debris and trash covered the floor and graffiti coated the walls. Access to the subway tracks was cut off by rubble, the only way in being through the maintenance tunnels running parallel to them which was blocked by an old rusted metal door.

"This is the place but it looks abandoned, I mean more than it was before." Harley said as she tried to yank the door open, but it was rusted shut. "Damn it, open!" She hissed in frustration.

"Hang on I got this." Alex said as she gave up and moved aside. He removed his pack and pulled out a Det Linear charge and stuck it along the doors hinges before priming into it with a twenty second initiation system. The others backed up once they saw what he was doing and he waited until they were a good distance away before popping smoke on the initiator. "Fire in the hole!"

Alex walked back to the others as the fuse ignited the explosives, blowing the door off its hinges with a loud _"BOOM!"_ that echoed through the tunnel. Once the smell of explosives wore off they were suddenly hit with an overwhelming odor of decaying flesh and Alex had to resist the urge to gag as his eyes began to water.

"God damnit that smells!" He heard Barbara curse as she wretched from the smell. Understatement of the year, as this was by far the worst thing Alex ever smelt in his life.

There wasn't any power running through the hallways ahead so Alex activated the flashlight on his IARs PEQ-16 and flashed the hallway, seeing nothing in the immediate area.

"Alright, looks like we gotta go further in, but from the smell I don't think anyone will be responding to that explosion."

"Regardless we should be wary, whatever caused that smell could still be in there." Batman warned and Alex nodded in response, keeping his rifle at the alert as he stepped into the dark hallway, flashlight being the only source of illumination.

"Someone must've cut the power, we always had working lights down here before. I don't like this." Harley voiced her concern as we made our way deeper in. Eventually they came across a maintenance room that had been converted into living quarters but it was eerily devoid of life, although weeks old food was still laid out on the table as if someone had been eating.

"Hey check this out!" Robin exclaimed, holding up a metal cylinder for us to see. Batman took the object and checked it over with a gadget from his utility belt.

"Hmm, traces of chlorobenzalmalononitrile. CS-Gas, not particularly lethal but it's still nasty stuff. Guess that explains why we haven't found any signs of struggle yet, to busy choking on gas to fight back. I'm betting we'll find what's left further in." Batman explained to us.

"Isley, anything you can do if there's still left over gas?" Alex knew that Ivy was knowledgeable about chemical weapons and hoped that she'd be able to provide some form of counter-measure to any residual effects with her abilities. CS-gas would dissipate over time but he wanted to take into account the possibility of any remaining active munitions.

"Unfortunately, not at this time, Harley has a slight immunity to the effects of chemical weapons but I'm afraid the rest of you will just need to be cautious. I'll work on creating the anti-toxin I gave Harley for the rest of you once were out of this hole if you'd like."

"Do it. Alright let's keep moving but keep an eye out for any more ordnance."

They proceeded further in, the smell of rotting meat getting stronger as they approached the door to the adjacent platform, which according to Harley was the center of this hideout. As Alex walked up to the door he expected it to be rusted shut like the previous one but instead it opened with ease and he was overwhelmed by the stench from within. After coughing for a brief second, they entered the room and his light passed over the bodies of Joker's gang piled up on the tracks, shell casing littered the platform indicating the thugs had been executed and thrown onto the tracks.

"Ugh, bodies are badly decomposed, these men have been dead for weeks." Alex observed, their skin was already sunken and decaying with flies swarming over the pile. He'd seen a lot of things he wished he could forget but this…this was by far the most haunting thing he'd witnessed and he could tell from the looks of the younger members of Batman's team that the feeling was mutual for them as well. Someone must have found the circuit breaker as the lights flickered back on, illuminating the rest of the platform.

The rest of the platform was a mess as they expected it to be and a quick look around showed nothing else noteworthy, or at least Alex thought until he spotted Harley staring at something in the far corner with Ivy by her side. As he approached Alex thought that it was a person they were staring at but as he got closer he realized that it was mannequin they were focusing on, a mannequin dressed in Harley's old jester outfit. When Alex got to them he saw that Harley was fighting back tears and he quickly realized why, a disturbing smile and crossed out eyes had been smeared on the mannequins face in what appeared to be blood and a piece of parchment was stabbed into its heart.

 _Harleen Quinzel_

 _You may have escaped us once but we know your still out there and we will find you. Run to the heroes who you called your enemy, run to the military who fails to end the wars plaguing the world, it matters not who you decide to hide behind, we will reach you._

 _A new world is coming, one without war, without famine and poverty, without heroes and villains playing their petty games while the rest of us suffer. You will not be a part of this new world, you will be forgotten as will everyone who has made the world a battleground for their own amusement. And while we wage war on your kind we do so to provide a safer world for all of humanity._

 _So, run, hide, surrender, either way know that you will not escape what is coming to you._

 _Through action we bring war, through war we bring order, through order we bring peace._

 _The New Era_

Harley looked like she wanted to puke, and it wasn't because of the rancid smell of rotting corpses nearby. Ivy offered her comfort by holding her close as the others came over to see what the fuss was about.

"The New Era, never heard of them before." Barbara said after reading the note they had left for Harley.

"Same here but these gotta be the guys that ambushed us. Alright enough standing around, gather evidence and photographs for the boss while I mark the area for site exploitation." Alex ordered Barbara and Robin who immediately got to work. "Hey, don't worry about these guys alright, we already fought them off twice what's the worst they could do?" He consoled Harley. Famous last words anyone?

 **...Mission Complete...**


	27. Chapter 27

**Short chapter but Super Bowl weekend can be blamed for that. That come back by the Patriots though! How anyone can blow that big a lead is beyond me! But your not here for football so let's get back to our regularly scheduled program.**

"Seriously, how the hell have you been firing this thing without your wrist breaking!?" Alex held Harley's old single shot hand cannon in front of him and she just shrugged at him. It looked like she had modified a break-action revolver into a single shot 40mm grenade launcher that was somehow capable of firing without exploding in her face.

They'd recovered the weapon along with the rest of her old effects from the subway hideout after finding the warning The New Era left behind. Harley had been distraught that her old life was catching up with her just as she got better but with some help from Ivy they'd gotten her to calm down and promised to keep her safe.

Currently they were at a stretch of land owned by the government to test out new equipment in order to test fire the weapons that had been sitting in the armory for several months without being used. While it was for maintenance reasons Alex also just felt like shooting at something other than people for once in a while. It was just the two of them, Barbara and Tim still had work and school, Ivy was working on that formula for the others, and Batman was busy finding intel on The New Era for General Anderson. Alex didn't mind though, he and Harley hadn't had a day to themselves in almost five years.

"Just don't be a bitch Alex." Harley answered with a smirk as she leaned against the table that our weapons sat on.

"Hey I ain't no bitch, but if my wrist gets fucked up I'm blaming you…" Alex grabbed a shell off the table and walked to the firing line, dropping it into the tube once there. He took a breath and brought the gun eye level, sighting in on the target they'd set up down range, a scarecrow dressed up in the Joker's purple suit. The idea had, surprisingly, been Harley's but who was Alex to deny her some form of vengeance?

Alex thought he had compensated enough for the recoil but the muzzle climb from firing a 40mm out of such a short barrel caught him by surprise and his shot went wide, exploding about ten feet to the right. Harley started laughing as the smoke dissipated and Alex felt his pride become wounded but at least his wrist was still intact.

"Ok hotshot, grab a weapon and show me what you got." He challenged as he walked off the firing line.

"Gladly." She then grabbed her SMG and got into position, loading a magazine and chambering a round. She started off standing with a two-handed grip, firing off three bursts in quick succession before transitioning to a single hand and emptying the magazine. She cleared the weapon and we walked down range to the target.

"All in the ten ring, your turn." Man, she was a good shot. Alex counted all her rounds in the targets chest region. Very impressive for an untrained civilian.

"Oh, you wanna make a bet?"

"Lay it on me."

"I bet that I can fire an entire two-hundred round belt from a machine gun into the chest." Not a hard task if you know what your doing. Besides anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap, life is expensive.

"Alright, and if you win?"

"If I win you gotta buy me dinner, I lose I pay, deal?"

"Is this…no...are you asking me on a date?" She asked wide eyed. Alex hadn't intended it to sound like that, who doesn't enjoy a free meal, but he did admit the idea wasn't a bad one. It might be a bit awkward, they had been on opposite sides a mere two months ago, but she was still his best friend. Always would be regardless of the direction they went. Now that he was thinking about it Alex started to like the idea and decided to roll with it.

"I guess I am. Look I'll understand if you think it's weird but…"

"It's not weird, I'd like that…very much." She smiled happily and Alex let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in.

"Alright, awesome!"

"Don't celebrate just yet, you still gotta shoot remember?" Oh, right. They walked back up range where Alex picked up an M240B medium machine gun and brought it to the line while Harley brought over the ammo can and set it next to him. Alex got into the prone behind the machine gun which was resting on its bipod and loaded the rounds onto the feed tray, locking the bolt to the rear before sighting in on the target.

Having an 8x optic made it easy, but really it isn't too hard to operate a machinegun. His initial bursts were good and he made it three quarters through the belt when the tracer rounds ignite the target. Even though it's on fire Alex still finished off the remaining ammo, but it'll be impossible now to tell if all his shot's hit.

"Well, looks like I'm paying." He sighed, getting up from the gun and watching the target burn. Damn, he'd been looking forward to that free meal.

"I like the sight of Joker burning, even if it isn't really him. I do hope he's this is what he looks like in Hell." Harley says, her blue eyes staring intently at the flames. It's a bit concerning but Alex didn't say anything to her. Instead he grab an AT4 rocket off the table and took a knee on the firing line.

"You like that, watch this!" He exclaimed, sighting in again. "ROCKET!" He shouted and the rocket flies out of the tube, exploding on the target a split second later, reducing it to a pile of ashes. Alex looked back at Harley to see her laughing to herself.

"That's awesome! You really know how to make me smile Alex!"

"That's what I'm here for, blowing up psychopaths and making pretty girls smile."

"Well your certainly good at doing those. So wanna pick me up at eight tomorrow?"

"You mean wake you up at eight, you sleep on my couch remember?" Since she didn't have a place of her own Harley had moved onto his couch, which he didn't mind, except for the fact that his food bill nearly doubled overnight. The DOD was giving her a small stipend but he'd told her to save it for herself, so all of her expenses ended up with him. Also, she was kind of a slob, leaving used plates and opened food out, which conflicted with the neatness that Alex usually maintained in his home. Still he'd rather have her close to keep an eye on her, especially with her being hunted by terrorists and all.

"Oh, right."

"Come on, let's get this place cleaned up, then you can help me clean up the mess you left back home..."

"ugh, it's not even that big a mess!"

"There are ants crawling around the kitchen!"

"Alright, fine. I'll pick up after myself more often." She rolled her eyes and brushed past him.

In all today was pretty fun, Alex got to shoot some guns with his best friend and managed to score a date with her, which would sound pretty lame if they were still in high school which they're definitely not. Besides, she'd been his date to the Marine Corps ball before and that had ended up...amazing. He wished that every day could be like this and was definitely looking forward to tomorrow. But fate had plans of its own...

… **Mission Complete…**


	28. Chapter 28

"Would you hurry up, our reservations in an hour and we gotta drive to the next city over!" Alex urged from the opposite side of the bathroom door. He'd made reservations for one of the fancier restaurants in Metropolis as they both agreed that a change in scenery would definitely be nice and as such that required Harley to put in more effort into her appearance. She'd even went out and bought a nice dress for the occasion.

"Yeah, give me a sec will ya!" She shouted back through the door as she finished applying her makeup. He had it so much easier, being able to wear a uniform for any occasion that required a dress code. Once Harley gave herself a last look over in the mirror she opened the door and left the bathroom.

"It's about time Harley, we gotta…whoa." He stood in the center of the living room, his brown eyes wide as they took in the sight of her. "Damn Harley, you look absolutely stunning…literally."

"Speak for yourself Alex, that uniform looks good on you." Everyone's heard about how the Marines Dress Blues uniform makes women crazy, in a good way, and it's absolutely true. Harley had only seen him in the uniform once before and he looked as good then as he does now. There were some slight differences though, more chevrons on the sleeve, more ribbons on the left side of his chest, and a red stripe running down the sides of the blue trousers all indicators of the transformation he's made since last she'd seen him.

"What, this thing? I only wear this for special occasions." He said with grin and wink.

"Well I'm glad I'm one of them." Harley replied, closing the distance between them and draping her arms over his shoulders.

"Course you are. Now unless you wanna be late for dinner we really should get a move on." Alex hated to ruin the moment but the reservation had cost quite a bit of money.

"I've never been late ta a free meal an I aint startin now!" Harley exclaimed, grabbing Alex's hand and pulling him towards the door.

Alex drove them out of Gotham and through the country side to Metropolis, blasting music and singing along to Katy Perry of all people. Harley thought Marines were into like Rock or Metal music but this guy was happily singing along to _"Teenage Dream"_ and _"California Gurls"._ Maybe those IED's did more damage to his head than she thought?

Eventually the music stopped an they started talkin about other stuff, Alex was going on about his second deployment an how it went much smoother than the first one. Harley still felt kinda bad for not being able to talk with him through it but he told her not to worry, that his boys had his back the whole time, which made her feel better knowing that he wasn't alone out there.

When they finally pulled up to the joint in Metropolis Harley found out that it was one of them places only people with a lot of money could afford to go to. She hesitated to even go in to the place as she knew that he didn't make nearly enough to pay for the place.

"Hey, ya sure about this Alex? This place is really expensive an I know you don't make much on yer paycheck…"

"Don't worry about Harl's, General Anderson's hooking us up. Said it was his way of rewarding us for a job well done." Wow, that man acts all tough but Harley guessed he really did look out for them.

They walked inside and were immediately shown to a booth, menus and silverware placed neatly on the table and a bottle of wine already on its way. As they walked by Harley noticed a group of military looking guys notice her but didn't pay them any mind, she couldn't really blame them for staring cause she knows she would have.

Everything on the menu looked so delicious she couldn't decide what to get, but if the General was paying she might just get one of everything! Harley eventually decided on a nice looking steak and placed her order with the waiter while Alex ordered chicken. Once their orders were placed Harley turned her attention back to Alex but he was looking out the window at the horizon, deep in thought about something. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him like that, staring out at nothing, but Harley hadn't asked what was on his mind, until now that is.

"Penny fer your thoughts?"

"Hmm, oh, sorry. It's nothing, just some stuff from a long time ago on my mind."

"Such as?"

"Harley, you know you're not my doctor, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm the closest thing ya got so spill." Alex shook his head and sighed in defeat.

"Look I've done a lot of things I wished I hadn't over the last few years but I really only have one regret and I think of it every time I look at you." He admitted while avoiding her eyes.

"What do ya mean? I thought things were fine between us now?"

"They are, trust me you don't know how happy I am to have you back. No, what I regret is not taking the chance with you all those years ago. We were best friends for over twenty years and somewhere along the line I fell in love with you all those years ago. I wanted us to be together but the deployment was coming up and I kept thinking that I'd only hurt you if we were together and I died in Afghanistan. So, I never told you, I figured that if I made it back I'd tell you then..."

"But I never gave you the chance…"

"No, by the time I got back the Joker had already gotten to you. And ever since then I keep thinking that if I had told you before I left…maybe you wouldn't have felt so alone back here and you wouldn't have fallen into his trap. It's my fault that he got to you, if I hadn't enlisted…"

"No, don't you dare say that. It was no one's fault but my own, you went out there to defend us and I'm so proud of everything that you've done. I looked up ta you ya know, back then. My best friend was a fucking Marine, going out ta war ta keep the rest of us safe back home. You were a hero ta me Alex, ya still are…"

"Yeah, I saved everyone except for the people I cared about. First Daniels then you, hell I almost got Barbara killed! Some hero I am…"

"You saved me, and I'll never forget that. I'm sorry I didn't realize your feelings fer me back then, an I don't deserve you now, but if you'd have me I'd like the chance ta try."

"Nothing would make me happier." He smiled, reaching over the table to hold her hand in his. Harley felt her heart flutter as they looked into each other's eyes, leaning across the table closer to each other until…

"Harley Quinn!" A voice shouted angrily followed by a shotgun blast to the ceiling. Seriously, couldn't wait one more friggin minute!? Those guys checkin Harley out earlier must've been members of The New Era and they tipped off their friends about her. A woman holding a shotgun stood in the middle of the dinning area, two soldiers flanking her. The others in the restaurant cowered and whimpered in their seats as three soldiers dressed in the same black body armor as the ones from before stalked through the room. They had their faces covered save for the brunette chick carrying the shotgun who Harley assumed to be their superior, the other two waving assault rifles around to keep the occupants back. As the womans eyes finally fell on Harley she walked over pointing her finger at Alex.

"Hey get away from her soldier boy!"

"Stay cool Harley." Alex whispered to her, ignoring the woman and enraging her further.

"You fucking deaf!? Hey I'm talking to you!" The soldier shouted as she reached their table, focusing her attention on Alex.

"Now!" Alex shouted. Alex grabbed the neck of the wine bottle they'd been brought and smashed it into the soldier's face as she refocused on Harley, knocking her out as Alex stood and drew a pistol he'd been concealing. Alex fired at the second soldier before he could react, three bullets taking him down, sending the other patrons into a panic as Harley fumbled for the leader's shotgun, finding it under the table. She brought the weapon up just as Alex was finishing off the second soldier, unaware of the third bringing his weapon level with him. There was no time to waste so Harley pulled the trigger and the man crumpled into a heap on the floor, the 12 Gauge having torn through his unprotected side.

"Holy shit! I got one, Alex did ya see that!?" She cheered excitedly. She'd shot at people before, Batman would tell anyone as such, but never actually killed another human being before. The feeling was...odd. She didn't feel guilty, he'd have killed Alex if she hadn't but it was more of a revelation of her capabilities. Harley now knew that she had the capacity to kill.

"Yeah, great job. We gotta move though, sounds like there's more outside!" He warned, picking up one of the fallen soldier's assault rifle and ammo. It was amazing at how quick he had switched from being relaxed to a combat mindset, assessing the situation and reacting accordingly. Sure enough as Harley looked out a nearby window she could see black SUV's and soldiers flanking the building. She'd never thought she'd say this but for once Harley really wished the police would show up. "Multiple hostiles outside, shotguns and assault rifles. I'll keep them suppressed, go make a move for the car!"

"Alright, waiting on you!" Harley joined Alex at the door and brought her shotgun up. He counted to three on his fingers, shouldering the door open and firing in controlled bursts as she sprinted around him and towards the parking garage, blasting another soldier in the leg as she ran past. Alex tossed a smoke grenade he'd recovered and ran as fast as he could to her, jumping into the passenger seat just as Harley got the Challenger's engine started. She threw the car in gear and swerved out of the lot and into the street as the remaining soldiers resumed firing at them.

"Ram them outta the way!" Alex shouted, using the buttstock of his rifle to bash out a portion of the wind shield for him ta shoot out of. Harley pressed her foot into the pedal as hard as she could, sending the vehicle surging forward and into a soldier unlucky enough to not get out of the way in time. The car had taken some bullets and the engine was smoking a bit but they seemed to be mostly unscathed. That is until Harley heard Alex choking next to her.

"Hey you alright!?"

"Fuck….fuck…fuck!" He replied, opening up his coat to reveal a steadily growing blood stain coming from his chest. Oh shit! Not good, definitely not good! He must've caught a round as Harley blew past those goons. Fuck what was she gonna do!? She was trained to fix minds not treat gunshot wounds, that's his job! Harley could at least tell by the way he was struggling to breathe that one of his lungs must've been hit, definitely not something to leave untreated for to long.

"Just hang in there Alex, im gonna get ya to a hospital!" Fate decided otherwise it would seem as the car slowed ta a halt, the engine spurting and dying from the damage it had taken. Shit, they were only a few blocks away, the soldiers would catch up to them in no time! Alex was struggling with the glove box so she reached over and opened it, removing the first aid kit and giving it to him. Harley grabbed his assault rifle from where he had dropped it and exited the vehicle. "I'm gonna find help, just stay calm ok?"

Fate is a funny thing, one moment it's fucking people in the ass by breaking their car when their friend needs medical treatment and the next it's dropping salvation from the sky. The soldiers ran up, guns drawn and surrounded Harley just as she saw a blue and red blur zooming through the air towards them and making an earth-shaking landing between her and the soldiers. Once the dust settled Harley swore those soldiers were shitting themselves, she definitely would have in their shoes cause they were about to get royally fucked up. All she could do was stare in amazement as one of the strongest beings in the world faced down a dozen armed soldiers.

"Superman…"

… **Mission Complete…**


	29. Chapter 29

"OPEN FIRE!"

The squad of New Era soldiers fired their weapons at the Man of Steel, but true to his name the bullets bounced harmlessly off him and into the night. Superman waited until their weapons ran dry before grabbing the lead trooper's collar and throwing him into the trooper next to him.

"Unless you want to end up like those two the rest of you should drop your weapons, now." Superman warned, giving the troopers the option to surrender.

"Fuck you!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

Superman then grabbed the nearest trooper's weapon, relieving him of it and breaking it over his knee before tossing the now destroyed weapon behind him. Knowing their weapons were pretty much useless the soldiers instead tried to take Superman one on one, tackling him in an attempt to gain the upper hand but he easily shrugged them off. There were only three soldiers standing and they circled him, each looking for an opening. Eventually they all decided to attack at once but Superman just flew into the air causing them all to collide into each other and fall into a heap on the pavement. Before they could get to their feet Superman was already on them, knocking them all out with blows to the head.

"That should teach them. Are you alright Miss…wait I know you, your Harley Quinn!" Crap, Harley didn't need him to think she was still one of the bad guys!

"I…look I was Harley Quinn but I aint that person no more! Look I'm putting the gun down alright!" Harley replied, placing the assault rifle on the road and backing away.

"What are you doing in Metropolis? Why are those soldiers after you?" He questioned, jabbing a finger into her chest.

"I…we were on a date and those soldiers just came barging in, honest! They want ta kill me because of the things I've done as Harley Quinn. We were tryin ta get away when…Oh shit Alex!"

"Who?"

"My friend, he's hurt bad!" Harley cried running back to the car with Superman behind her. Alex was unconscious, the medical kits contents spilled across the floorboards. He looked even worse than when she'd left, blood had soaked through his white undershirt and he was taking very shallow breathes, the rise and fall of his chest was uneven due to the gunshot wound.

"He's suffering from Tension Pneumothorax, he needs medical treatment now." Superman determined after a quick assessment.

"What?!"

"Air is filling the space between his lungs and chest cavity, restricting blood flow to and from his heart. If he isn't helped soon he could go into cardiac arrest." Superman explained as he gathered Alex up in his arms.

"Can you help him!?"

"I'm not a medical professional but I can get him help at the Watchtower." He said before opening a channel to the Watchtower. "Superman to Watchtower, situation in Metropolis is handled but I have wounded military personnel. I need a medical team ready asap."

Superman then took hold of Harley before there was a bright flash and suddenly they were up on the Watchtowers teleportation pad. Superman then placed Alex on the stretcher that had been brought in before they quickly carried him off to the towers medical ward.

"Your friend will be fine Harley, but you need to tell us everything that's going on."

"Yeah…you got it, just let me sit down really quick and make a call…"

 **...**

"Quinzel, where is Sergeant Westbrook, what's his status!?" General Anderson asked as soon as he and Batman stepped out of the teleporter.

Harley had called him to let him know what had happened and he insisted on being brought up to check up on Alex. Batman had also finished his research into The New Era and was ready to brief the General and the League, making it convenient for him to have the General brought up to the Watchtower.

"He's stable General, but he'll need some time before he's ready to get back out there." Superman answered for her. Alex hadn't woken up yet, but the League had patched him up well enough.

"That is a relief to hear, I would hate to lose him before we even get into the fight."

"Speaking of fights, who exactly are those soldiers that attacked him and Harley?"

"They're terrorists disguising themselves as peacekeepers. They want to bring peace and order to the world by killing off all of you." The General said bluntly.

"That's the gist of it, I have a more in depth assessment prepared for you and the General, but we should go somewhere more private." Batman suggested, walking off in the direction of the conference rooms.

"You should come along to Quinzel, I need you to stand in for Sergeant Westbrook while he's incapacitated." The General told Harley, waving for her to follow alongside him.

"Sure, no problem Sir." Harley replied before following the three through the tower and into a secure conference room. The room itself wasn't anything special, save for the view of Earth offered by the large window, a view Harley never thought she'd see in her life time. It was…beautiful.

"So, what have you learned Batman?" General Anderson asked once he took a seat around the table centered in the room.

"The New Era, a political and militant group formed a decade after the Justice League. The group originated in North America but they recruit members globally, primarily citizens from troubled countries the League has been to before." Batman explained briefly.

"If that's true why are we just now learning of their existence?" Superman asked.

"They come in after we leave, provide aid to the people and recruit them to their cause. That's what the public see's at least, however they're secretly amassing troops for something big."

"And what exactly do they plan to do with this army they've built?"

"Wipe us out. They believe that we do more harm to the world than good, the places we visit often end up devastated and the local populaces suffer as a result. In their eyes, we're no better than the villains we fight."

"That's absurd, we're nothing like them!" Superman protested.

"But they do make a point. Generally speaking, we don't stick around long enough to help reestablish order in the places we fight. They're ultimate goal is to establish a new world order once they've eliminated all of us and our adversaries. They're also making moves to destabilize the worlds superpowers to help in that endeavor, escalating the riots and protests in America in wake of the election and inciting civil unrest in Europe and Russia through proxy militias. There are also rumors of them supplying ISIS and other radical groups in the Middle East to further occupy the worlds militaries."

"Bastards. Alright we know they're objectives and strategy's but I need names, locations, targets to send my Marines after." General Anderson butted in.

"That's were things get tricky General. We don't know who leads them. They also don't operate out of any one location. They can strike anywhere at any time."

"What about those soldiers that ambushed me an Alex, didn't you capture them?" Harley asked, hoping that if they had they could interrogate them for information.

"Most of them, DOD took custody of them from Metropolis PD after Superman rescued you. I already have agents interrogating them as we speak." General Anderson answered.

"Good, if we can get a lead on one of their Lieutenants we can hopefully capture them and disrupt their network." Superman commented.

"Agreed, do you have any leads to follow up on Batman." The General asked, turning his attention back to the Dark Knight.

"Negative, they're surprisingly good at hiding their movements but I will find them." He promised.

"I'll also inform the League to be on the lookout for them as well. Batman can liaison between you and us while you're running your operations." Superman added.

"Excellent, you point us in the right direction and my Marines will be there. It'll be a pleasure to fight alongside such a distinguished group of heroes."

"The pleasure's ours General. Now if you'll excuse us Batman and I have some planning to do."

As the two heroes left Harley walked to the window overlooking the Earth and stared down at the planet. She couldn't get over how beautiful it looked from up here, almost forgetting about the conflicts raging down below. War, famine, poverty, all the things humans have done to scar the Earth, seemed so minimal and one could forget about how insignificant humanity really was in the grand scheme of things from up here, giving Harley an understanding into Ivy's view of the world.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" General Anderson asked as he walked up and stood beside her.

"It's breath taking. Really puts things into perspective seeing it from here."

"It does, doesn't it? Seeing the Earth like this…it makes everything we've done worthwhile. All the wars, the killing, the destruction, it's worth it to protect what's down there. That's why we have to keep fighting, we're not just defending America anymore…we're defending the whole world. However noble they're goals may sound The New Era will only achieve peace through subjecting everyone else. I will not allow that to happen."

"I don't want that either, I can tell ya from firsthand experience that being someone's tool aint a great way ta live."

"I'd imagine so. When Sergeant Westbrook told me that he planned on taking you in it was a risk, but it's a risk that paid off. Since offering you a place with us you've surpassed my every expectation by a longshot and I hope you continue to do so. You deserve this chance at life we've given, and while as your commanding officer I shouldn't be encouraging your newfound relationship with Sergeant Westbrook I am also a human being. There are going to be some tough times ahead and he'll need you to be there for him, now more than ever."

"I understand General, and thank you…for giving me the chance to be myself again."

"Don't mention it. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to check on my Marine, then I need to return to Washington and brief the Secretary of Defense. Oh, and by the way, Batman and I talked on the way up here. Once Sergeant Westbrook is well enough he and Batman are going to be putting you, Ivy, and Batgirl through a combat conditioning course. Can't have you out there fighting the enemy without being prepared so it might behoove of you to inform your peers and get yourselves ready. The training will be...let's just say it'll weed out anyone not fit to defend the world."

"Ah, fuck me…"

… **Mission Complete…**

 **Well I hate to say it but this is gonna be it for a while as I depart for my training op. Don't worry I will still be continuing when I return, in the mean time you'll just have to standby (or don't, entirely up to you). I just want to say thanks to everyone that has supported this story thus far. I expect to return late March but knowing the Marine Corps that is subject to change, either way I will be looking forward to updating on my return (almost as much as I'm looking forward to shooting at imaginary enemies... Hooray for peacetime Marine Corps! _The Marine said sarcastically, wondering what his point in life is without a war to fight as the Marine Corps slowly but surely drains his soul away...)_**


	30. Chapter 30

**And we're back, half a month later than I predicted, but such is life in the Marines. Anyways we should be back on track with regularly scheduled updates (with the occasional break for field ops that is).**

Alex sat in his hospital bed staring intently at his cell phone as he read about what had been going on in the world while he'd been incapacitated. Harley sat in a chair next to his bed watching his eyes scroll over whatever article he was reading when he finally dropped his phone and sighed.

"Man, I'm out for a few weeks and shit hits the fan. Syria gassing its people so we bomb the fuck out them and then like a week later we drop a MOAB in Afghan…that's fucking tits man! Now there's shit going on with North Korea, man what a time to be alive!"

"Well I'm glad you think so, lotta people are kinda upset about all this." Harley mentioned. People's feelings were definitely mixed on the growing military action.

"Fuck em'. We're kicking ISIS in the dick and that's all that should matter."

"Well yeah, but people are worried about another world war starting up and I'm kinda scared they may be right."

"Why though? We've already been at war for the past few decades and the world is still standing. Trust me, no matter how bad things get no one's gone start dropping nukes because I guarantee that neither side wants the world to end."

"I guess so. I do think it's great that we're cracking down now though, kinda makes me glad that I left that life behind now." Harley admitted to which Alex started laughing.

"Ha, yeah I bet. They coulda dropped a MOAB on your ass."

"Yeah, let's not go there…"

"Fine fine, so getting shot kinda sucked."

"Hmm you don't say?" Harley replied with a raise of her brow.

"Who woulda thought right? Definitely one thing I don't want to do again." Alex looked down at the scar on his chest and frowned.

"I was really worried about you ya know? I saw you passed out and there was so much blood… If Superman hadn't shown up I don't know what I'd have done."

"Come on, it's gonna take more than some stupid bullet to kill me."

"I'm not joking around Alex, I was really scared that you'd die!" She suddenly exclaimed, tears threating to fall.

"Sorry, I didn't know. It means a lot that you care."

"Of course I care, I know we're still figuring out…us, but no matter what you'll always be my best friend."

"Same here. Look I talked to the General earlier and I'm getting out." That got Harley's attention and she brought her head up to look him in the eyes.

"What? I thought you liked being a Marine!" As much as she wanted Alex safe she also knew that being a Marine had become his lively hood and she didn't want him to give that up because of her.

"I do, it's been the best few years of my life, but I want more out of my life than this. My contract ends next January but I've extended for as long as this mission takes and once it's over I'm out. Then we'll have all the time in the world to figure things out."

"Your assuming we all survive this that is." A familiar voice said. Alex and Harley looked over to see Ivy standing in the doorway carrying a small pack on her back."

"Ivy you're here!" Harley exclaimed, jumping up and racing over to hug her friend.

"Yes, it took some convincing but the league finally believed me when I said I wasn't causing trouble. Although this ID card saying I'm with the DOD now certainly helped." She replied, showing off the piece of plastic with her image on it. "It's still good to see you though Harley, Sergeant." Ivy greeted, nodding her head towards Alex.

"Likewise, you're looking well Isley." Alex returned the greeting.

"Yes, well I tend to avoid having metal projectiles shot through my body. Something the two of you need to work on…"

"Hey man, I've spent a year in Afghan without getting shot but as soon as I try to go out with my friend…BAM! I get a sucking chest wound."

"Wait. You two…go out? Harley, you didn't tell me about this!" Ivy replied, a hint of jealousy in her voice as she turned to face Harley.

"Oops, must've slipped my mind red." She replied awkwardly and Ivy sighed in response.

"Ugh, at least he's an improvement over your last one."

"Thanks, I think?" Alex said from where he sat as he watched the two women.

"I mean it Sergeant, although really anyone would be an improvement over that slime. If it had to be someone I'm glad it's you."

"So, your saying I have your approval? I'd wager not a lot of guys can say that."

"You'd be correct, but your definitely in my top three. Now as much as I enjoy spending time with you two I do have an actual reason for being here. I've finished recreating that toxin immunity for you, it won't make you immune to every chemical out there but should give you an advantage over any mild poisons or irritants like that CS gas the New Era used. I can administer it when you're ready."

"Is it gonna hurt?"

"I'm sorry I thought I was talking to a Sergeant of Marines, not some little boy afraid of needles."

"Alright, I get it! Stab away Doc."

Ivy chuckled as she retrieved the syringe filled with a green colored liquid and checked to make sure it was filled with the correct amount of fluid. Seeing that the dosage was correct she proceeded to stick the needle into Alex's arm and inject the serum.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

 **...**

"Ladies, Sergeant it's good to see you all back in one piece. How are you feeling Sergeant?"

"Ready for some action Sir."

"Outstanding. Now I have word from the SecDef, the New Era has officially been listed as a priority terror threat, every military branch is on alert and the President has been briefed on the status of our operations in Gotham. I'm sure you've all noticed that the military is becoming more aggressive in our actions across the globe and as such the President wants us to take the same stance with our operations. But before we do can do that we need you all spun up on how to conduct warfare in an urban environment. Come zero eight Monday you'll all be transported to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-Nine Palms to receive training in urban warfare and counter-insurgency operations. I recommend taking the next few days to say goodbye to any loved ones as you'll be there for just over sixty days. Sergeant I'll need you to write up and distribute a gear list this evening."

"Got it Sir, anything else?"

"Nothing of importance, just make sure you all show up Monday prepared and ready to train."

 **...Mission Complete...**


	31. Chapter 31

Twenty-Nine Palms. Located close to Palm Springs California one would think the training center to be a small oasis in the Mojave Desert but to the Marines training or stationed aboard the installation it is anything but. Outside of the main camp the training areas of Two-Nine are nothing but metal combat towns surrounded on all sides by large mountains or empty desert, the only sign of civilization being the training camp of Camp Wilson, which is where Alex and his team have been dropped off after flying back across the country.

"Welcome to Tatooine… I mean Twenty-Nine palms! Or should I say the ass end of the Marine Corps. This is Camp Wilson, you're home for the next sixty days." Alex, now dressed in desert MARPAT fatigues, informed Barbara, Harley, and Ivy, also dressed in the same uniform as Alex, as they dropped their bags outside of one of Camp Wilsons metal huts.

"This place sucks…" Complained Harley, wiping sweat off her brow as the desert sun beat down on them from above.

"Yeah I know that…a little piece of me dies every time I come here. Like you're in the suck but not actually deployed… Anyways, you are now a part of Special Tasks Group Echo, go find a rack inside and drop your shit. Training starts tomorrow…"

 **...**

The first day of training consisted of the three-trainee's introduction and issue of the M16 rifle. They sat on their racks as Alex stood in front of them holding one of the rifles.

"This is the M16A4 Service Rifle. It is a light weight, magazine fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, shoulder-fired weapon firing a 5.56mm ball projectile. Now I know what you're thinking, you've made it this far in your varied careers without utilizing a rifle before but while conducting training on this installation you will become familiar it's use. For the next sixty days, you will be with this rifle twenty-four seven, you will become intimately familiar with its components, and you will treat this weapon better than you would your own mother. Understood?"

"Yes Sergeant." They answered in unison. Part of the training included proper utilization of rank structure and as such Alex was to be addressed as Sergeant while the others by their last names.

"Outstanding, now take your weapons and repeat after me. This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine..." Alex ordered, reciting the riflemen's creed.

"This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life."

"My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will…"

"My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our bursts, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit…"

"My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn it's weaknesses, it's strength, it's parts, it's accessories, it's sights and it's barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…"

"Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life."

"So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!"

 **...**

"Reveille! Reveille! Rise and shine, it's devil dog time!" Alex shouted as he walked down the row of cots to wake the others up. Barbara groaned as she checked her phone to see that it was barely five in the morning. "Get outside, form up for PT."

Barbara followed the other two as they shuffled outside into the cool morning air and found Alex waiting for them, holding an ammo can with three additional ammo cans sitting in front of him, one for each of them she assumed. Alex didn't even have to say anything, she just reached down and picked one up, finding that it was heavier than it looked, most likely filled completely with sand. Harley and Ivy followed suit, holding the can over their shoulder with their right hand as Alex took off in a jog down the row of metal huts.

His pace wasn't too fast at first but Barbara noticed that he was slowly picking it up as he went, transitioning from a slow jog to a run by the time they passed the chow hall. She looked to her right to see that Harley was keeping up with them but Ivy was a few feet back, head low and breathing labored as she began to struggle. Barbara wasn't the only one to notice as Alex shouted back at her.

"Let's go Isley, get the fuck up here!" He yelled. To her credit, Ivy did put energy into a short sprint to catch up but once she did she puked from exhaustion and began to fall out again. Alex let her linger behind for a moment before deciding that enough was enough. "Don't want to keep up? Fine your dead Isley, lay on the fucking ground!" He ordered. Ivy swore to herself before complying, sitting the can on the ground and lying next to it. But Alex wasn't done there.

"Quinzel, Gordon, pick her the fuck up! Don't worry Isley they'll carry you're fucking weight!" Thing about that was all the ammo cans still needed to get to where they were going. Harley set her can down and picked up Ivy in a fireman's carry over her shoulders, keeping her secure with her right hand and reclaiming her ammo can with her left, leaving Barbara to pick up Ivy's abandoned ammo can. The rest of the run was way more tiring than it should have been, Harley and Barbara traded carrying Ivy a handful of times before finally arriving back outside their hut, Harley setting the ammo cans down and Barbara slowly easing Ivy off her shoulders.

"Isley, what was that back there?" Alex questioned as Ivy sat against the side of the hut drinking water from a canteen.

"I'm obviously not the most physically fit Sergeant. I didn't need to be, not when I have control over plants to do things for me." She explained before taking another sip from her canteen.

"Well guess what motherfucker, that shit stops right now. While conducting training here you will not make use of your abilities. I need you to be in shape, not just for yourself but for them as well." He told her, pointing over to where Barbara and Harley stood panting. "Next time it might not be you that goes down and one of them might have to rely on you to carry them out, understand?"

"Yes Sergeant."

"And you two, fix your fucking peer." He said, jabbing a finger in they're direction. "Now go shit, shower, shave whatever…get some food and be back here by zero eight for class."

 **...**

"Shooters standby…CONTACT!"

Short bursts of gunfire rang out as Barbara, Ivy, and Harley fired their weapons from the firing line. They had finished all their classes the day before and had been driven out in a Humvee to one of 29 Palms many ranges to practice their marksmanship fundamentals. Alex already knew that Harley was a decent shot and that Barbara would need some work to overcome her current mindset of not utilizing weapons, that was proving to be a challenge in itself. What he hadn't expected was for Ivy to be one of the best shots he'd ever seen, her shot groups being even tighter than Harley's.

"Damn Isley, finally found something you're good at." He complemented as Ivy cleared her weapon.

"I'm good at a lot of things Sergeant." She replied smugly.

"Except PTing, you suck at that…"

"Yes, well nobody's perfect."

"That's very humble of you Isley, you're really turning around ya know?"

"You think?"

"Yeah, you're not as much of an asshole as your file says you are. Look Isley, I see a lot of potential in you to do a lot of good for the world and that's not just me stroking your ego. You do suck at PT but that can be fixed, other than that you've shown initiative, cunning, and have the makings to be a strong leader and I wanna help you get there. Not to mention you're way more mature than the others, maybe even me."

"You…you really think so?"

"Absolutely. I'm making you my assistant squad leader, you'll still take orders from me but you'll also be responsible for Gordon and Quinzel. Think you can handle it Isley?"

"Yes! I mean of course, I won't let you down Sergeant and…thank you, I don't know if I'm the hero type but thank you for believing in me."

"Isley, no one asks to be a hero…it just sometimes turns out that way." He replied solemnly, looking off into the distance as events in Afghanistan came to the front of his memory. Ivy wanted to ask what he'd meant but then thought better of it, somethings were best left alone.

 **...**

Harley low crawled her way through mud, careful not to catch her rifle or helmet on the barbed wire strung a mere inch above her when a simulated mortar exploded just in front of her with a bright flash and explosion of mud. The sound of a machine gun firing urged her to continue forwards as more mortars went off around her. To her left she saw Ivy trying to untangle her uniform from where the barbed wire had snagged it, eventually deciding to just rip a hole out of the clothing before another mortar landed near her.

"The sounds you are hearing are live rounds…" Alex shouted over the chaos. He was sitting behind a mounted machine gun and was controlling when the mortars would detonate in-between firing bursts from his machine gun just over their heads. "If you stand up, you will get fucked up!"

Harley knew he had to be kidding, that he had to be firing blanks. They wouldn't let him fire live ammo at them during training, would they? A quick glance over revealed that the machine gun lacked a blank fire adaptor and the rounds feeding into the gun were very much real.

" _POP, POP, POP, POP!"_ Another burst brought her back to reality and she continued forward, dragging herself through the mud to get out of the weapons line of sight.

"Keep moving! This will get the bitch out of you!"

Up ahead Harley spotted Barbara crawling forward at a snail's pace when a mortar exploded in front of her. Barbara curled herself into a ball and began to sob, blocking Harley and Ivy from going and allowing the mortars and machine gun fire to close in on them.

"Come on man let's go!" Harley shouted, urging the girl to keep moving. The only way she was getting out was to keep pushing or risk taking a round to the dome.

"I can't!" She screamed back terrified. In the years that Harley and Ivy had known her as Batgirl they had never seen Barbara look so terrified, but at the same time she had never been exposed to the level of chaos one could only find on a battlefield.

"We gotta go Babs!" Harley tried again to no avail.

"No!" The girl sobbed back. Harley thought about calling out to Alex and having him cease training but he was too far away to hear her.

"Fuck it!" Ivy shouted, slinging her rifle onto her back and grabbing Barbara by the handle on her flak. Harley, realizing what she was trying to do, slung her rifle as well and grabbed hold of Barbara by her belt and together she and Ivy drug her forward.

The rest of the obstacle was grueling to navigate, the explosions and gunfire making it all the more stressful, but the two somehow managed to drag their friend fifty yards through mud and barbed wire obstacles, coming out on the other side exhausted, sore, and covered in mud, but with a small sense of accomplishment and Harley couldn't help but laugh at the impossible task she had accomplished.

 **...**

"Any of you recognize what this is?" Alex asked, holding up a spherical object.

"Oh, I know! That's a grenade!" Harley answered excitedly.

"Correct, this is the M67 fragmentation grenade, with an omni-directional kill radius of five meters this is the perfect tool for taking down light armored infantry. Now, see that post out there?" Alex asked, directing their attention towards a single metal pole out in the desert. "You're gonna be throwing these little guys at it. Now I cannot stress enough to be careful with these, they may look harmless but these are explosives and if mishandled you will die in a manner most unpleasant."

Alex then showed them all the safeties on the grenade and how to throw it, demonstrating by tossing a live grenade at the post which exploded in a small blast of dust and shrapnel.

"So, who wants to go first…"

 **...**

Alex was quite pleased with how well his team was coming along. Ivy was getting more physically fit by the day, much to the relief of her peers. It had taken some time for her to get used to all the responsibility Alex was giving her but with the proper guidance she began to excel in the role. Barbara was slowly but surely getting over her hesitance to use firearms, it had taken a while and a lot of patience on Alex's part but she was turning into a decent shot. Harley was well… she was still her usual cheerful self, cracking jokes and making smart remarks about the whatever they were doing. Her antics helped to boost the other's morale as they endured the harsh training thrown at them by the Marine Corps, but Harley's behavior was a double-edged sword and could at times result in making life difficult.

"You think that's funny huh? Well guess what, this is my boot and it will fit up your ass with the right amount of force, you understand?" Harley joked as she imitated kicking someone with her boot. She stood between Barbara and Ivy who laughed at her imitation as they were lounging on one of the racks while she cracked jokes at Alex's expense. Of course, he wasn't around to see them as he was out inventorying gear for the next evolution of their training cycle.

They had just come back from conducting fireteam sized maneuvers and Alex had been harping on them about every little detail of their performance. Harley knew he did so because he cared but at the same time she didn't like being treated like a child, she was a doctor after all. So, sensing that the others needed their spirits lifted she had waited for Alex to leave before putting on her little performance.

"Y'all got ten seconds to unfuck yourselves, one…two…ten." She joked, referring to when Alex had made them run around a combat town in full gear after messing up a room clearance. Harley was about to continue when she noticed the others had stopped laughing and were looking past her. She turned around to see Alex standing behind her, arms crossed and brow raised.

"Pretty funny, huh? That's a good impression, I recognize myself."

"Uh, I didn't mean nothing by it Sergeant. Just having some fun is all" Harley explained lamely. Alex and Harley may have something between them but he made a point of not giving her any special treatment because of that.

"Ain't nothing wrong with a bit of fun now and then. In fact, I just got an idea for some fun y'all can have as a team." He said with a grin. The girls looked at each other and sighed, knowing that they were about to hate their lives.

Sometime later the three of them stood atop a several foot-high sandbag wall they were constructing around the perimeter of their hut as Alex's team building exercise. Of course, it would be the one day that it decides to piss rain in the desert, soaking and covering them in mud, while Alex watched from inside the Humvee.

"I don't hear you laughing now Quinzel!"

"HAHAHAHA!" She mocked as she tossed another sandbag up to Barbara.

"Detail, Attention!" Alex called, causing the girls to drop what they were doing and look at Alex. "Y'all built a pretty nice wall, President Trump would be proud of what you've built here, but I've got more important things to do, like finish watching my movie, but the rest of you can continue to have fun by tearing this all down. Isley make it happen." He ordered as they all groaned before walking back into the comfort of the hut, leaving them to tear down the wall they had spent hours building.

 **...**

"Alright listen up, Private Isley will be leading you on patrol through the town today." The four were gathered around the Humvee just outside the combat town, dressed in full gear and weapons slung.

"Where will you be Sergeant?" Barbara asked. Alex had always been the one leading them, not that she didn't have trust in Ivy to lead them, but still it was unusual and gave her a bad feeling.

"I'll be playing OpFor for you guys, hiding somewhere in the town and waiting to engage you. Isley all you gotta do is patrol to that building…" He said, pointing towards a three story building. "…and clear it out."

"Will do Sergeant."

"Alright, for this evolution we'll be using simunition, five point five-six millimeter wax rounds, to see who actually gets shot. It'll be the three of you against me so hopefully you make use of the training and beat me. Here, you'll need these." He said, passing out protective masks and adaptors for their rifles. Harley quickly donned her mask and turned to Barbara.

"Luke I am your father!" She quoted, adding in the heavy breathing for effect. Barbara grinned and shoved her away before donning her own gear.

The three waited for Alex to make his way into the town before Ivy gathered them all up.

"Alright listen, I think he's going to try and ambush us before we reach that building so keep your eyes open. If you see him shoot him, got it?" Ivy asked, directing the question more towards Barbara than Harley.

"Hey this'll be fun, like playing paintball!" Harley replied happily.

"Come on let's go."

The three moved out in formation, entering the town five minutes after Alex giving him plenty of time to hole up somewhere. The building they had to reach was on the other side of the town, creating a lot of danger areas for them to cross but Ivy was confident in her abilities to lead the others safely. It wasn't hard to move through the town, it was eerily empty but that didn't stop them from feeling like they were being watched. They had made it a block away from the target building when Ivy suddenly halted the patrol and motioned for them to take a knee behind cover. Once she was sure they were concealed she brought her rifle up and looked through her scope, having seen movement from a building across from the one she needed to clear. She kept looking for a minute before deciding it had just been something fluttering in the breeze when suddenly.

" _SNAP!"_ A paint round whizzed past her head and exploded on the wall behind her.

"MOVE!" She shouted, returning fire from the direction the shot had come from.

Barbara and Harley jumped from cover and ran across the street to cover Ivy. Harley stuck her head out to fire a few shots but was rewarded for her efforts with a paint round exploding across her mask.

"AH SHIT! I CAN'T SEE!" She yelled, frantically wiping at her mask with her off hand while firing blindly with the other.

"SUCK IT NERD!" They heard Alex shout from across the street.

Knowing that Harley was now notionally dead Barbara waited for her to run out of ammo before draging her behind cover before firing some rounds off and allowing Ivy to join her.

"Quinzel's dead!" She reported once Ivy reached her.

"Fuck, any ideas?" Ivy asked as she heard Alex's IAR fire on automatic, paint rounds exploding on the ground and wall behind them while he laughed manically. They still hadn't managed to spot him; just knew the general direction his shots were coming from.

"Yeah, just make it count." Barbara said before running out into the middle of the road. Adrenaline coursed through her as she lifted her rifle, setting it to burst and emptying her magazine into the building she thought Alex was hiding in. Ivy understood what she was doing, providing a distraction to allow her to get away and attempt to flank Alex. Not wanting to waste her sacrifice Ivy broke cover running past Barbara just as she got lit up with paint rounds and into the next block over. Ivy looked back to see Barbara laid out in the road, red paint splattered all over her body. She knew it was just training, that Barbara was fine, but she couldn't escape the feeling of remorse coming over her, had it been real... well there wasn't point in dwelling on that.

"Isley, come out and play!" Alex taunted from somewhere in the town, breaking Ivy from her thoughts and reminding her that she still had a job to do.

Ivy carefully made her way around the block, weapon pointed into every door and window she passed incase Alex was lying in wait. She rounded another corner and there it was, the target building. The alley to get to it looked clear, but looks were always deceiving. Alex had warned them multiple times that IED's were always a threat and that a one of the nasty devices could be lying in wait anywhere they went. Scanning the route she wanted to take with her scope revealed indicators of one such device to Ivy. A wire, covered lightly in dirt, running across the road and into a nearby car off to the right. Inside the truck resided a mock 155mm artillery round, that if activated in a real-life situation, would have decimated her team.

Now knowing that the threat was there Ivy continued to press forward, carefully stepping over the trip wire and past the rigged car. What she hadn't realized was that the 155mm round had just been a hoax device to draw her attention away from the real IED, a smaller explosive activated by a pressure plate commonly referred to as a toe-popper, a device she had just triggered by placing her foot onto a soft patch of dirt.

" _POOF!"_ A white cloud of dust erupted in front of Ivy as the device activated, caking her in a layer of white powder. She grumbled in annoyance and smacked her forehead.

"Stupid! Should've known it wouldn't be that easy." She remarked while dusting herself off.

"INDEX!" Alex called from the road, signaling her and the others to cease training and rally on him for a debrief. Ivy was less than thrilled with the result of her first time in command and she made a promise to do better, not for herself but for her friends… Friends? Is that what they had become? She'd been solitary for the longest time, until Harley had barged into her life. Now here she was with Harley and her best friend alongside Barbara, a girl who had been her enemy for years, all here suffering together. Ivy had initially joined up for Harley's sake but now, she was discovering that she enjoyed being here, with her friends…A formerly deranged psychiatrist with bad taste in men, a librarian that dressed up as a bat at night, and a disgruntled Marine Sergeant. Was this who she was calling her friends now? Yes…yes it was.

 **...**

Today had gone smoothly. Since the fiasco in the combat town Ivy had thrown herself into her billet, constantly asking Alex for advice on how to succeed before requesting a retry of her failed operation. The second go around had gone much better, turning the tables on Alex and ambushing him before he had time to place any IEDs and completing their objective. As a reward for their success Alex had given them a few hours of liberty once they got back to Camp Wilson. The four of them sat around on their racks bullshitting with each other.

"…And that's how Harley's brother ended up in the hospital." Alex finished explaining as the others listened intently to the story.

"So, let me get this straight, you two caused her brother to go to the hospital with a nail in his ass?" Barbara asked, recapping the end of the story.

"It was his fault, I mean sure I pushed him but he should've paid more attention to his surroundings." Alex replied.

"And you were ok with this?" She asked Harley, who just shrugged indifferently.

"He had it coming, always was a douche…"

"Ok, knowing you two that actually makes a lot of sense."

"It's not like I was trying to pick a fight with the guy, he started it when he shoved Harleen. I was just preforming my gentlemanly duties and defending her honor."

"Ha, a gentleman he says! Please we both you your nothing of the sort." Harley joked at his expense.

"Yeah, keep it up and I'm about to have you build that fucking wall again."

"I think I've already made America great again for one life time thank you."

"So, Sergeant, I gotta ask. If you hadn't enlisted what would you be doing?" Barbara asked, switching the conversation before Alex followed through with his threat. Joking or not she had no desire to rebuild that sandbag wall.

"Oh boy, if I hadn't enlisted huh? Well before I decided on enlisting I did want to be an artist, but that probably wouldn't have gone anywhere. Most likely would have stayed in Gotham and tried my luck with this one earlier." He answered, pulling Harley into a quick hug. "Man, a lot of shit would've been different. Wouldn't have this back pain so early, like every time I wake up I wonder what part of me is gonna pop today."

"That's not weird, you're old remember?" Harley said, getting a chuckle out of the others.

"Yeah and your older, grandma." He shot back. "Who even is the oldest here? It's obviously not Barbara, fucking child."

"Probably Ivy, even I don't know how old she is."

"Yeah how old are you Isley? That part of your file was redacted."

"Uh, Just under three decades short of a century…" Ivy answered after she finished chewing the vegetarian MRE she'd been eating, causing Alex to laugh in disbelief.

"Ha, right. And I can grow wings and fly!" He replied sarcastically.

"I'm serious! The experiments that made me…me, they halted my ageing process. I haven't aged in several decades." Ivy answered somewhat sadly and from the look in her eyes Alex saw that she truly wasn't lying.

He wanted to ask more about what exactly happened to alter her, but there was something about her expression, how her eyes wandered off as she spoke that made him think better of it. He often did the same thing when talking about Afghanistan and figured that whatever had happened to her must have been as, if not more, traumatizing.

Sure he'd seen people be killed in front of him, killed a lot more people, but he'd become impartial to death over the years, it was out of his control, but to have your entire being torn apart and reconstructed into something...else? Voluntarily or not no one was coming out of that unscarred.

It made Alex pity Ivy, if his assumptions were correct than she was little more than a victim of some ungodly experiment. No wonder she preferred plants to people, for as intelligent as they are humans could do some pretty fucked up shit when left unchecked and she had been unfortunate enough to wind up on the receiving end of said shit.

"Wow... that's some crazy shit Isley." He replied knowingly. "I take it back Harley, Isley's the new team grandma…er…great great grandma? Know what, we'll just settle for mom, I just hope I don't live to be as old as you." He joked, hoping to lighten Ivy's mood.

"Really? You don't wanna to be old Alex?"

"Well maybe at one point in time I did, but I want to go out in a blaze of fucking glory. That'd be a good way to go. I mean who wants to die of old age, or in some hospital? Not me, I'm dying in a pile of brass surrounded by the corpses of dead terrorists!" He replied enthusiastically. Harley shook her head and sighed.

"Alex, your motivation is showing…" Harley warned. She'd support Alex through most anything, but that was one thought she was shutting down right now, she'd kill Alex herself if he died in such a reckless manner.

"Aw shit! Hate it when it sneaks up on me like that…ugh, I suppose living a full life wouldn't be so bad, you know if I had the right person to spend it with." Alex replied, casting his gaze to Harley and making her blush.

"Ugh, you two make me want to vomit sometimes." Ivy huffed before continuing to eat her MRE.

 **...**

The time had come to test if Ivy's serum would work. The team stood inside the concrete walls of the gas chamber, gas masks on save for Ivy as she was biologically immune to any form of toxin as is. Alex stood over the burner in the center of the room, holding a container of CS gas capsules in his hand. All U.S. service members are exposed to CS gas during training, but Alex didn't relish being exposed to it yearly. The gas wasn't fatal, just an irritant used in riot control operations but a lot of people panicked when exposed, believing the gas was doing more harm than it could. It also gave Alex some hilarious memories of his friends.

"Standby. GAS, GAS, GAS!" Alex shouted, dropping several pellets into the burner and filling the room with gas.

They stood in the gas, breathing through their gas masks as Ivy just stood there unfazed by the gas, hands on her hips as she breathed it in. The other three took in deep breathes before Alex ordered the masks to come off. They held their breath for as long as they could before eventually having to gasp for air, but instead of choking on the gas as he had so many times before Alex found that he was able to breath just fine, his eyes weren't even watering.

"Told you it would work." Ivy said as they took more experimental breaths.

"Well, I'm impressed. We'll have to see about circulating this through the military, you'll be a rich woman Isley."

"Please, if I did the things I do for money I'd have retired long ago. You can thank me by actually listening to what I'm saying about the environment."

"That's above my pay grade, but I'm sure the General can make things happen."

"See that he does." She replied before unlocking the gas chamber doors and walking out into the desert.

 **...**

They were coming close to the end of their training cycle, three more days of training and the final exercise would begin. Today Alex had brought his charges out to one of the machine gun ranges along with the weapon Ivy recognized Alex using to threaten Frost with way back when, the M2 .50 CAL machine gun. At the time, Ivy hadn't understood why Frost looked so frightened of the weapon, to her all guns were the same, but having since heard its deafening report and seen the destruction left in its wake her opinion of the weapon soon changed and she understood why Frost had nearly shit himself being face to face with its muzzle. He would've been reduced to bloody chunks had Alex decided to fire the weapon.

Ivy now found herself sitting behind the large gun after Alex had instructed her on how to load and operate the weapon. Checking that the large rounds were seated properly on the feedway and that the cover was properly closed she gripped the charging handle in an underhand grip as Alex had instructed and pulled back, or at least she'd tried, pulling it back half way before it slammed back.

"What the fuck was that Isley? You might wanna dig deep and pull that thing like a man, otherwise that weapons gonna make you it's bitch." Alex ordered her.

"What does pulling it like a man have anything to do with it?"

"God damn it Isley you know what I fucking mean, use your muscles!"

Ivy huffed in annoyance and yanked back again, racking the handle fully to the rear and letting it go home.

"There you go! Once more and your good to go!"

She repeated the process, fully loading the weapon and waiting for Alex's instruction.

"Alright, technical one o'clock, fifteen-hundred meters! At the sustained rate fire on my command!" He ordered. Ivy spotted the target, a silhouette of a pickup truck, out in the desert and manipulated the weapons traversing and elevation tool to orient the weapon towards it. "Engage!"

Ivy flicked the safety off and pressed down on the trigger causing the weapon to boom in response. Pockets of dust kicked up mere feet in front of the truck and Ivy quickly adjusted the TnE to compensate, walking the rounds on target. She fired another burst, the rounds impacting and sparking off the metal target.

"Good effect on target, standby. Infantry ten o'clock, nine-hundred meters! Smoke those motherfuckers!"

Ivy transitioned the weapon to a group of pop-up targets and began to fire, repeating the process of walking the rounds on target until they all went down.

"Nice! More infantry at the eleven, come up five clicks!"

Again, the targets went down as Ivy fired away until her ammunition ran out, a large pile of spent brass collected beneath the weapons tripod. Ivy cleared and safed the weapon before standing from her position to admire her handiwork. She hadn't thought it would be but that had been rather enjoyable.

"Fuck yeah Isley, that's what I'm talking about!" Alex praised, pating her on the back cheerfully. "Alright, who thinks they can do better?" Alex asked the other two. Not one of them did…

 **...**

Today marked the beginning of the culmination and final evaluation of everything the team had learned over the past forty-nine days. Alex had taught his charges everything he knew and was confident that they would exceed his every expectation during the FX. They'd be staying out in one of the larger combat towns until training day 59, fighting OpFor provided by the units stationed on base. If things went well they'd complete their assigned missions and graduate.

To start the Op, they were dropped off two clicks away to patrol through the desert into the town with full gear to include flak with SAPI (Small Arms Protective Insert) plates, Kevlar, rifle with 180 rounds of 5.56 blanks each, assault pack with three days' rations and sleeping system, and a water source. On top of that they were also given an M240B medium machine gun and 500 rounds of 7.62 linked blanks to carry around as well. Ivy had volunteered to carry the machine gun, strapping her M16 to the side of her pack and carrying the machine gun over her shoulders.

To add to the realism the training command had also emplaced several IED's along their patrol route, giving Alex a chance to show off his Combat Engineer skills by leading the patrol while sweeping the route with a compact metal detector.

As Alex was sweeping his detector started beeping over a patch of overturned dirt. He'd spotted the indicator several feet away but needed a second confirmation before calling it in.

"Hey, back up and set security. Got a possible up here." He ordered. Ivy took charge from there, directing Harley and Barbara on where to go as Alex called in the threat over the radio. "Roger, blowing in place." He said before digging the training device out to notionally BIP it. Alex held up a metal anti-tank mine and tossed it off the road. "Alright, let's keep moving…"

Alex found three more IEDs along the route before they finally neared the entrance to the town. Alex collapsed the CMD and stuffed it into his pack, unslinging his M27 and stacking up against the perimeter wall. Barbara and Harley backed him up with their rifles while Ivy switched from carrying the 240 to slinging it and carrying it by her hip.

"Alright, we're gonna set up in that building over there." Alex whispered, pointing out a large building in the center of town. "Should provide us with good three-sixty over watch, Isley I need that machine gun up on the roof asap."

"Understood."

"Let's go."

They patrolled into the town, passing multiple Marines dressed as civilians milling about the market. While patrolling they kept an eye out for anyone that looked suspicious or was carrying a weapon but a threat was never presented and they reached their destination without any complications. Alex, Barbara, and Harley cleared out the building as Ivy went up to the roof, setting the machine gun up on the roof and watching the people down below. She remained up there until it was dark before Harley came up to relieve her, the Marines acting as role players having left hours ago. But the first day had gone off without a hitch and that was good enough.

 **...**

While the first day had been uneventful the next two had not been as easy. On one of their patrols through the market an IED had gone off, scattering everyone in the area and during the confusion they had been ambushed by OpFor. They had managed to fight them off but not before Harley was notionally shot through the leg. A tourniquet had been applied and Harley carried back to safety by Alex as Ivy and Barbara covered him.

While Harley had become a casualty, it was all part of their assessment to see how they'd react in a complex ambush and she had been reset to full health by the end of the day. They were doing good so far, just six more days…

 **...**

"Hey, Gordon wake up…" It was late in the evening as Harley shook Barbara awake for her turn on post.

"Ugh, I'm up… I'll be up in a sec." Barbara whispered, not wanting to wake the others.

Harley nodded and walked back up to the roof. Barbara yawned and climbed out of her sleeping bag before putting her gear on and grabbing her weapon. When she arrived on the roof she found Harley huddled up in her blanket as she sat behind the machine gun, canteen in hand and staring out into the distance.

"Hey, you can go get some sleep now." Barbara told her as she set her rifle down and sat next to Harley.

"Yeah, want some?" Harley asked, offering her canteen to her. "It's got coffee, or well whatever that stuff that comes in the MRE's is…should wake you up though."

Barbara looked down at the canteen before accepting it, taking a swig of its contents and handing it back. The liquid was lukewarm and tasted bitter as all hell but still served its purpose in waking her up more.

"Thanks, you should go get some sleep though."

"What, can't I just hangout for a second?"

"I mean yeah, but sleep is more important and I need to stay focused up here."

"Pfft, like there's anyone to attack us. All the role players go home at night remember?" This was true, they usually left before the sun went down, but Barbara didn't want to leave anything to chance. Harley was about to say something else when pops of gunfire echoed through the town.

"Shit! Where'd that come from!?"

"There, that direction!" Harley answered, pointing down to the market place behind them. Sure enough the Marines playing OpFor were running around firing at their building.

Barbara grabbed the machine gun and rushed to the other side of the roof, laying it down on its bipod before firing a short burst into the market to suppress the actors. While she still didn't like the idea of using guns, or killing for that matter, she knew that this was only training and had put up with using weapons to appease Alex and show that she could use them if the situation absolutely required it. Bruce would have a fit if he saw her now, lying prone behind a machine gun and firing at people, sure they were blanks, but the concept was still there. But Bruce wasn't here and she hoped that he would understand the compromise she'd made with herself.

"What's going on!" Alex asked as he stormed onto the roof, Ivy close behind him with weapon in hand.

"Got a group of insurgents in the market!" Harley answered after firing another shot from her rifle.

"Gordon stay here and keep them pinned down! Isley, Quinzel on me!" Alex ordered, intending to go outside and flank their attackers. Barbara kept firing away until she saw the others move down an alley adjacent to the market. She watched as they ambushed the OpFor and forced them to retreat. They lingered in the market for a minute to be sure they weren't coming back before returning to the safety of the building. This time Harley decided to head straight for her sleeping bag. Barbara checked her watch and saw that it was only two thirty in the morning, giving her another hour and a half before she'd go down and wake Ivy to relieve her.

 **...**

"Keep up the pressure, let's go!" Alex ordered, firing a burst from his IAR. It was the final day of their evaluation and they were tasked with assaulting the OpFor's compound. The compound had been located on a reconnaissance patrol the day before, giving Alex the night to prepare a plan of assault for today.

The OpFor were putting up a good fight but Alex and his team were better, fighting hard to gain every inch of ground they could until they reached the compound. Stacking up by the entrance to the compound Alex motioned for Harley to come up and breach the door. She slung her rifle and unslung a sledge hammer from her pack, swinging the heavy head into the door and busting it open allowing the others to enter with her following behind after unslinging her rifle again.

Fighting inside the building was even more chaotic than outside had been, the close quarters restricting their movements but they somehow managed to keep their momentum up, pushing further into the compound and closer to their objective.

By the time they finished clearing out the compound everyone was exhausted, sweating, panting for air, and nearly out of ammunition. But they had done it, completed their final task and finished their training cycle. Alex removed his helmet and looked at his team with a smile, he beyond proud of them and knew that these were the best teammates he would ever serve with.

"Good work guys, you've exceeded my every expectation, blown them out of the water! Your all more than worthy of this." He told them as he reached into his pocket to retrieve something. Alex walked over to both Harley and Ivy, placing an object in their hands.

Harley opened her palm to see a black Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, the insignia of the Marine Corps, resting in her palm. She felt something, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time…the feeling of pride, in herself and in those around her. They had achieved this accomplishment together and Harley knew she wouldn't have made it without their support. She looked over to see Ivy had the faintest of smiles on her face as she stared down at the small piece of metal in her hand.

"Congratulations. No matter what you were before, from now until the day you die, you are Marines. I'm proud to call each of you my sister in arms and I look forward to fighting by your side."

"Thank you, Sergeant. We won't let you down."

 **...**

"Marine to be promoted, center! March!" Alex ordered. They stood back in Camp Wilson, Alex next to General Anderson, Harley and Barbara at attention across from them. Ivy marched out from behind and around them, coming to a halt in front of the General and saluting.

"To all who shall see these presents, greeting: Know ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity and abilities of Pamela L. Isley, I do appoint this Marine a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps to rank as such from the first day of July two thousand and seventeen. This appointee will therefore carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the grade to which appointed by doing and preforming all manner of things thereunto pertaining. And I do strictly charge and require all personnel of lesser grade to render obedience to appropriate orders. And this appointee is to observe and follow such orders and directions as may be given from time to time by superiors acting according to the rules and articles governing the discipline of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Given under my hand at Special Tasks Group Echo this first day of July, in the year of our lord two thousand and seventeen. Sighed Robert E. Anderson, General, USMC, Commanding." Alex read from the promotion warrant before passing it off to the General and pinning Ivy's new rank to her collar.

"Congratulations Miss, or should I say Lance Corporal Isley. You've come a long way since we first accepted you into are ranks, all of you have really, but Sergeant Westbrook told me of your accomplishments during this training I began to see the same potential in you that he does. This promotion was not given lightly, you've shown your capable of taking charge of your peers and filling in for the Sergeant when needed and I fully expect you to live up to your appointed rank. Continue to do great things Isley, we'll be watching with great interest…"

 **…Mission Complete…**


	32. Chapter 32

It was the Fourth of July and Harley was skipping through the office and humming the National Anthem as she put up decorations in celebration. Alex relaxed in his chair behind his desk and watched her with a smile on his face, remembering that Harley loved celebrating holidays, national or otherwise. While Alex didn't normally care about festivities to the extent Harley did he would admit that his office did look nice with all the streamers and flags she was putting up.

"You know, it's not like this place is patriotic enough as is, I mean have you seen the posters?" He asked, pointing towards the recruitment posters lining the office. "Besides, that's all gotta come down tomorrow anyways."

"Well yeah, I know that but I want this place to be the most patriotic building on the street. Look, even the Army's office is putting stuff up!" She replied. Alex looked out the window to the Army's office across the street to see they had indeed set out decorations.

"Oh, fuck no! Those motherfuckers are always trying to show me up and steal my applicants!" Alex exclaimed, standing from his chair and making for the door. "Hey Jones, I know you aint trying to beat me at decorating…" He shouted to the soldier holding a box of streamers across the street as he left the building.

Harley chuckled as she watched him cross the street and talk with Jones, the Army's recruiter. Since coming back from 29 Palms she'd been helping Alex out around the office, usually just keeping it organized and running the Poolees during PT. She'd often see Alex get into friendly arguments with the other branches recruiters, Jones in particular, but they were generally light-hearted and she could easily compare it to a sibling rivalry not unlike the one she and her brothers often had.

She had been nervous at first to be hanging around a government building and had considered making use of a false identity up until the Marine Corps shot that idea down. They'd leapt at the chance to turn her and Ivy into a PR campaign, demonstrating how the Marines could take even the most troubled of individuals and turn them around. As a result, her status as a reformed individual was now publicly known and Harley found that she could walk around in public without fear of being hassled by every Police Officer she came across. For the most part the public accepted her new status as a Marine, but there were some saying that she and Ivy's inclusion was a disgrace to the prestigious force as Marines are often seen as the pinnacle of honor, a trait they believed the two were sorely lacking. That was an opinion she'd have to work long and hard to change, but she was determined to do so.

While this proved to be beneficial to both Harley and Ivy, General Anderson had been less than pleased. He hadn't found out the Marine Corps was going public with their inclusion to their ranks until after it was launched and he was furious that anyone formerly associated with the two now knew that they were working with the DOD. Any chance of sending either of them undercover had been ruined by some stupid publicity stunt. He'd immediately flown to Quantico and Harley knew that some heads would be rolling when he got there. She may have been new to the military but she wasn't naïve enough to not know the importance of keeping a Black Op, and its members, out of the public's, and more importantly the enemies, eyes.

Harley finished putting up the last of her decorations and stood in the center of the office to admire her handiwork, it looked like Uncle Sam had puked red, white, and blue all over the place and Harley laughed at the thought until she heard a commotion coming from outside. She looked out the window to see Alex and Jones had gotten into a grappling match out on the side walk. Poolees from their respective offices cheered on their recruiters as the Navy and Airforce recruiters tried to separate the two. Harley knew they were just having fun and putting on a show but she also knew that making a scene was a quick way to get the police involved. She and Alex may be friends with the Commissioners daughter but she didn't think he'd just let them off with a warning, especially since he still didn't fully trust her.

"Hey, break it up you two!" She urged, helping the Navy recruiter pull Alex away from Jones.

"Yeah Army, why don't you fuck off!" Alex taunted as the Airforce recruiter helped Jones up.

"I aint going anywhere, this is my office you dumbass jarhead!" Jones shot back.

"Guys, guys cut it out! This the example you wanna set for these kids?" Harley asked, urging them to see reason. The two men looked at each other and shook their heads.

"No…" They answered quietly.

"Look, I'm still knew here but even I know that you two shouldn't be arguing with each other in the street, friendly or otherwise. I mean come on, it's the Fourth of July! You should be celebrating together, not fighting!"

"You're right Harley, I'm sorry Jones. You're alright…for a Soldier." Alex apologized, extending his hand out to Jones.

"Yeah, well, you're alright in my book to Westbrook. Not the dumbest Marine I've met either." The Soldier replied, clasping Alex's hand.

"See, doesn't that make you guys feel better?" Harley asked with a smile as the two men shook hands.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't pay you to psychoanalyze me."

"You don't pay me at all… The DOD does."

"You should pay more mind to her Westbrook, she's got a decent head on her shoulders…for someone who used to dress as a clown that is." Jones smiled, laughing at his own joke and causing Harley to blush with embarrassment.

"Ha ha, I'm just messing with you kid. We've all made mistakes in our lives, some bigger than others, but you're one of us now. Don't let anyone give you shit about it, otherwise they gotta mess with us too."

"Thanks, I'm happy here…finally feel like I belong somewhere. We may not always see eye to eye, but I think we can all agree on one thing…"

"Oh yeah? What's that?" They both asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"At least we're not the Coast Guard!" Harley answered with a laugh as Alex and Jones looked at each other and grinned.

"Eyyyy!" They both replied together as the other recruiters shook their heads and chuckled faintly.

"Told you Westbrook, she's a smart one."

"Her first shit talk… I'm so proud of her right now…Just wait until Mom hears." Alex replied, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. Harley laughed along with Jones before she and Alex parted ways and headed back to the office. They only had a handful of duties to accomplish before closing up and heading to Alex's place for a barbecue with the rest of the team.

 **...**

"Sorry I'm late, my meeting took longer than I expected." Ivy apologized as she walked onto the roof of Alex's apartment. After proving that her vaccine worked in 29 Palms the DOD were making plans to purchase and recreate it for distribution among the Armed Forces, meeting with Ivy to negotiate for the rights to do so.

"It's all good Mom, haven't even started cooking yet." Alex replied warmly as he prepared grill to cook on. He'd moved the party onto his roof, which offered a perfect view to watch fireworks from. Alex had dressed very casual for the event, flip-flops, shorts, and a T-shirt that read _"This is my Mandatory Fun Day shirt"_ written across the front. Barbara and Harley had already arrived, chatting idly around a table as they sipped from some cold beer.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not your mom?" Ivy huffed impatiently. Since revealing her age the unofficial billet of team mom had stuck. She wouldn't admit it, but she found it flattering. Her own mother had been terrible to her growing up, so to know she was surpassing her was also a bonus. And much like a mother would, she did her best to look after the others as much as she could. They, like her plants, were her family now and she cared deeply for them, even if she didn't often show it.

"You should take it as a complement. As abrasive as you can be sometimes you'd be a way better mom than mine was."

"I doubt that really. You turned out alright, for a man that is, how bad could she have been?"

"Ignoring your extremely feminist comment, she was a complete and utter bitch just because I wouldn't agree with her views. Well guess what Mom, I'm an adult and can have my own opinions separate from yours!" He shouted out to the city.

"Yeah, I remember them fighting often, especially after he told her he was enlisting. She was...less than supportive..." Harley added as she walked over after hearing Alex rant about his mother.

"How so?" Ivy asked curiously. While she could relate to Alex in that her own mother had been terrible at offering any maternal support she was curious to see what reasoning his mother had for not supporting him. As she understood it, military service was generally something parents would be proud of their child volunteering for.

"Well she was never supportive of the war in Iraq or Afghanistan, believing we only invaded to steal oil from them instead of fighting for stability in the region. So when he told her of his intent to enlist she was furious and did everything in her power to prevent that. I had to forge her signature onto the document allowing him to enlist at seventeen. She never found out until it came time for him to leave." Harley answered.

"Yeah, she was not thrilled with me when she found out that I was still going in. Bitch didn't even come to my graduation from boot camp...I haven't even spoken to her in five years."

"That bad huh?"

"Well I thought when I came back from Afghanistan she'd at least try to come and see me, make sure I was alright, but nooooo. She called me over the phone instead of seeing me in person. You know what the last thing she said to me was? _Oh, killing Muslims for their oil wasn't enough for you huh? You had to go and shoot Harleen too?_ I hung up on her after that… Haven't heard from her since. So, you see, way better mom than mine." He said, reaffirming his previous statement about Ivy.

"But enough about her, its the God damn Fourth of July and we should be celebrating, cooking barbeque, drinking beer, and shooting guns like the Americans we are!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, ending the conversation.

"I'm vegetarian…"

"I don't drink heavily…"

"I don't care for guns…" They all answered, shutting him down instantly.

"You commie fucks, why did I even bother setting this up!? Some Marines you are…"

"Ah, you still love us. One big dysfunctional family, remember?" Harley ruffled Alex's hair with a smile as she reminded him.

"Well I suppose you guys aren't the worst…"

 **...**

The sun was starting to set over the city but the get together on Alex's roof was still going strong. After dinner Alex found Harley leaning on the edge of the roof as she watched a small parade down below. She was completely oblivious to his approach until he tapped her shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.

"Oh, it's you!" She exclaimed, hand over her heart.

"Jeez, your jumpy this evening."

"Am not…You just scared me."

"My bad. So, I picked something up for you a while back, been sorta my pet project to keep my mind off…things. Anyways, I finished it before we left for California and I've been waiting for the right time to give it to you. Thought with all the celebrating going on now would be a good time." He told her, offering her a small wooden box.

"Oh, what is it!?" She asked excitedly, shaking the box to try and determine what was inside.

"Well it'd help if you opened it…"

"Right…" She unclasped the lid and opened the box revealing a shiny new Colt .45 pistol. It was gunmetal grey in color, featured an ambidextrous safety and raised tritium night sights. But what stood out the most was the writing engraved on the left-hand side of the slide. _Start Somewhere._ Harley pondered the cryptic writing, wondering what Alex had meant by engraving it.

"Recognize that piece? I found it in that factory we rescued you from." Realization came over Harley upon hearing that as she stared down at the weapon in her hands.

"This…this was his, wasn't it?" She whispered, heart wrenching at the memories of the atrocities, all the lives taken in cold blood by this weapon in the hands of her former lover. The purple and gold colors may have been removed but this was still very much the same weapon she'd seen take many lives. Lives taken as she just stood and watched, ignoring their pleas for mercy as the Joker toyed with them before snuffing them out. Those were the moments she wished she could forget, but they would always haunt her.

"It was, but now it's yours. Much like yourself, that weapon was corrupted and used to commit heinous acts, but also like you it has an opportunity to be used for good, a chance to start over. I think it's only fitting that you be the one to redeem it."

Harley didn't like the idea of having a reminder of her old life so close, but Alex's reasoning was not lost on her. The weapon she now held was just like her, used, abused, and thrown away only for Alex to come by and give them a chance to start over, to start somewhere.

"I…Thank you Alex. I'll makes sure this weapon is used for good…that it doesn't take any more innocent lives..." Harley ran her fingers over the engraving once more before replacing the weapon in its box and returning her gaze to the city. "I wish I could take it all back…The years I've lost, the lives I've helped destroy. I appreciate all that you've done for me, but sometimes I think it would've been better to have died instead of remain living with the guilt…"

"Don't you dare think that. We've talked about this, you made a mistake and you've been forgiven. Acknowledge and learn from what happened but don't let it destroy you, your life is worth living. Don't ever think that it's not. We…I…need you."

"Sorry, I shouldn't be talking that way. What we're doing…it's too important for me to be thinking that way."

"Yes, but that's not what I meant…If something happened to you…I'd be lost. I won't lose you…not again. Harleen Quinzel I…I love you."

Harley was speechless. She knew that Alex cared about her, and that she cared equally as much as him, but to hear him admit that he loved her? Her emotions were overloading as she smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she revealed in the feeling, knowing that she was loved. She pulled Alex close and held him tightly, shaking as he returned the embrace.

"I love you too Alex, I think I always have…I'm just sorry it took all of this for us to finally realize we were meant for each other."

"Me too, If I hadn't left…"

"We can worry about what ifs all we want, it won't change what already happened. Remember?" She said, reminding him of what he had just told her.

"Right, but…"

"Just shut up and kiss me already…"

Harley looked up into at Alex and saw him smile as he leaned down and kissed her lips. She smiled happily as she returned it, sparks flying in her brain as her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest. She remembered feeling this way the first time they had shared a kiss, so long ago, when she was starting her career at Arkham and he leaving for his first deployment. Promises had been made and broken but here they were, years later and finally realizing what they had been missing out on. Alex broke the kiss and held Harley close as fireworks began to light up the night sky in bursts of red, white, and blue but as spectacular as they were they paled in comparison to the woman he held in his arms.

 **...Mission Complete…**


	33. Chapter 33

Alex sweat as the hot summer sun beat mercilessly on him from above made all the more worse by the gear he wore. It was July if he remembered correctly, the hottest month in Afghanistan but that didn't concern him. Nothing really did anymore, not since Daniels had…died. That had been nearly a month ago, but he was still haunted by it. The memory of his eyes, wide and staring up at him lifelessly as Alex desperately tried to save him to no avail, it plagued him at every hour of the day. He remembered calling Harleen the day after and just sobbing into the phone, telling her that he was scared and wanted to come home. But here he was, still in the desert…

He checked his M16 for the hundredth time, making sure that it was loaded correctly and ready to fire when the time came. Intelligence had discovered a stronghold of Taliban hiding out in Sangin, a district in the eastern part of Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The Infantry platoon he and Daniels had been attached to had been tasked with neutralizing the threat and gathering information that could lead to other strongholds or caches.

Everything had gone smoothly up until they entered the town where they were met with hostile fire from the Taliban and their supporters. Chaos ensued as the Marines and Taliban battled each other, civilians fleeing in every direction to avoid being caught in the cross-fire. Alex fired rapid bursts from his M16 to cover the grunts as they pushed further into the town, waiting for them to cover him in turn so he could catch up. Finally, he was able to move as the grunts kept the Taliban fighters pinned down and he quickly made for their position. As he ran he heard gunfire, explosions, screaming, and saw the dead bodies of those who had been killed all around him as the battle raged on.

Just as he was about to reach his squad he saw a flash out of the corner of his view, turning just in time to see an RPG impact the ground several feet behind him. The force of the explosion knocked him off his feet and propelled him forward. Alex crashed into the ground with a grunt, the wind sufficiently knocked out of him by the landing. One of the Infantry's Corporals quickly grabbed him and drug him behind cover, leaning close to him and trying to talk but all he could hear was a sharp ringing in his ears. The Corporal kept repeating whatever he was saying until the ringing subsided.

"Alex wake up!" The Corporal shouted urgently, placing his hands on either side of his helmet and shaking him.

"Wake up!" He shouted again but this time his voice sounded distinctly more feminine.

He woke with a jump, a thin layer of sweat covering his body. He looked at his surroundings and instead of the town in Sangin he saw he was in his bed, realizing that he was still in his apartment in Gotham and not Afghanistan. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked over to see Harley looking at him with worry in her eyes and a hand on his arm, her other hand held a sheet up to cover her body as she laid next to him. Looking down, Alex saw he was also missing his clothes and he was confused for a moment until he remembered last night's events. After declaring his love and kissing her, Harley had waited for the others to leave before dragging him downstairs and into his bedroom. What followed had been nothing short of amazing…

"Bad dreams?" Harley asked, breaking Alex from his thoughts as he replayed the night over in his head.

"Yeah…" He murmured. A few years back he had been constantly plagued by nightmares of his first deployment but over the years he'd sought out help and came to terms with what had happened but every once in a while, one would sneak up on him.

"I know I'm not a psychiatrist anymore…but if you ever want to talk about it I'm willing to listen." Harley offered. She'd seen the signs of PTSD when he came back, how he'd avoid socializing, stare at nothing, drink heavily, and the constant night terrors. But while she had recognized those symptoms she'd been too busy worrying about the Joker to help him, something she'd deeply regretted considering what it had led up too. And while now it looked like Alex was able to manage it it was clear to her that he still needed some help.

"Yeah, that'd probably be for the best, but not right now. When I'm ready we'll talk, promise." It was a start at least. She'd do what she should have done all those years ago and help make his mind right as he had hers.

With that settled Harley saw no point in staying in bed any longer, getting up and putting on just her panties and T-shirt before heading to the door. Before leaving she looked back at Alex to see him staring, a stupid smile on his face. Harley didn't mind though, she was just happy to have someone that loved her for her, but that didn't stop her from teasing him.

"See something you like?"

"Just the most beautiful girl in the world…"

"Oh, stop it! Come on you can stare at my ass later, we got the whole day ahead of us!" She laughed before running out into the living room.

"Yes Ma'am!" Alex replied, quickly getting up and throwing on some pants before chasing after her. He didn't know how he got so lucky to have her or why'd she'd choose him. The life they were leading was full of danger and they ran the risk of being killed daily, a fact he wasn't blind to, but knowing that just meant he'd cherish every moment with her that much more and instead of hoping to die in glorious combat he now looked forward to the day where he could lay down his guns and just spend his days with her by his side.

 **...**

" _This intel comes from our informant in Penguins camp. The cargo freighter below you is carrying arms and ammo, most likely shipping them to terrorist groups in the Middle East. We need to make sure those guns never make it there. Once you secure the bridge Gordon will remain behind to provide on the ground intel while the rest of you proceed to the lower decks and destroy the cargo. Watcher One-Five will remain on station to provide over watch and extraction. Intel says the ship is lightly manned, only a handful of armed guards."_

"Rules of engagement Sir?"

" _Crew expendable. Overlord out."_

"Roger. Bring us in!" Alex shouted over his shoulder to the Black Hawks pilot.

"Taking us in, one minute." The pilot replied. The helicopter made one last circle around the freighter before it began to descend, hovering over the vessels bridge. Thanks to the low light conditions and a pouring thunderstorm the helicopter was well concealed from visible and audio detection by the guards patrolling the deck.

Alex charged his weapon and checked over his own gear. Dressed back in his black combat fatigues and wearing his load bearing vest in place of the flak jacket. He'd ditched the balaclava as it proved to be an annoyance while fighting as it overheated his body quickly, which could be fatal if caught unaware. Satisfied with his own gear he looked over his team to make sure they we're ready.

Barbara had opted for her Batgirl suit and forgone any firearms as she'd be staying in the bridge and was more than capable of dispatching anyone who got to curious.

Harley wore the same black combat fatigues as Alex. When told she could wear what she wanted so long as it was practical for combat, she had declined, saying that she was done with costumes. Her MP5 SMG hung from a one-point sling looped over her shoulders while the pistol Alex had given her was strapped to her thigh, ammunition for the weapons residing in the magazine belt she wore. She completed her new look by putting her hair up in a messy ponytail to prevent it from obscuring her vision.

Lastly, Ivy wore her own black and green suit. While her suit certainly lacked any practical armor, it enhanced her meta-human abilities while making her virtually undetectable by noise unlike the armor the others wore, a fair trade-off. Due to her capabilities with a rifle Alex insisted that she carry one to back him up, and upon arriving back in Gotham she had been issued an HK416, the carbine variant of his M27, which was now slung across her chest.

Seeing that his team was ready Alex waited for the pilot's thumbs up before kicking a rope out the side of the helicopter and motioning for Harley and Ivy to rappel down. Once they were on the deck and covering the ground he and Barbara joined them on the ship. Unslinging his weapon Alex, Harley, and Ivy pointed their weapons through the bridges windows towards the ships navigation crew who remained blissfully unaware of their presence.

"Weapons free…"

Muffled _"PFFTS"_ followed by shattering glass was the last thing the crew heard as they were shot unremorsefully by Alex and his team. They may have just been making the shipment but in his eyes, they were no better than the terrorists they were helping arm.

"Bab's, hold here and monitor the security feeds. The rest of you on me." Alex ordered, leaving Barbara on the bridge as they descended further into the ship, making short work of the few guards milling about until they reached the upper cargo deck and began to navigate the small maze of shipping containers as the rain pelted them from above. Watcher 1-5 circled overhead, it's Crew Chief scanning the deck with the mounted M134 Minigun for hostiles.

"They keeping the guns in these?" Harley asked as they passed another row of containers.

"No, these are probably filled with legitimate cargo. Any weapons and munitions are likely being held below deck." Alex answered quickly before halting them. "Guard on that platform up ahead. Isley can you get them?" He asked the redhead.

"Gladly." She replied, tossing a seed below the guard's perch and willing it to grow. A vine sprouted from the seed and grabbed hold of the guard, causing him to scream briefly before the vine gagged him. Ivy flicked her wrist and made the vine throw the guard over the ships edge and into the choppy waves of the Atlantic.

"Nice…"

"I thought it was…"

With the guard neutralized they continued creeping their way across the deck until they reached the tower on the stern of the ship. Barbara made use of the security cameras to guide them through the tower and into the bowls of the ship where they began to meet more resistance.

"Man, I know gunrunning is lucrative and all but damn, these guys really don't want us to get to them." Alex commented after they took down another team of guards. "AK's aint even that expensive, why do they care so much?"

"It's bad for business if they drop this shipment, especially if they got bested by such a small group." Harley answered.

"They can shove their business!"

" _Not to interrupt Sergeant, but you should be reaching the main cargo hold. I'd get ready for a fight if I were you, I'm seeing at least twenty guards with AK's waiting for you."_ Barbara warned them over the comms.

"Well I hope dying for a bunch of guns is worth it to them. Isley, you ready for a field test?" Alex asked, drawing a shotgun from his back.

"What are you going to do with that?" She replied with a raised brow, wondering what it had to do with her. Alex answered by holding up a shot shell.

"This shell has live plant seeds in it. I can shoot clusters of them across the hold, giving you the ability to wreak havoc with your powers." He replied before loading the shell and several others into his shotgun.

"If you think it'll work I'm game."

Alex didn't wait any longer, poking the barrel of his shotgun through the hatch and emptying the weapon across the room. The guards inside looked at each other in confusion, wondering what their assailant was doing by firing blindly around the room. They got their answer when vines sprouted across the room, gathering the guards up as they fired desperately at them to no avail before being tossed about like rag dolls.

"Hmm, better than expected…Alright, secure the room while I plant the charges." Alex ordered once Ivy finished taking care of the guards.

The three entered the cargo hold and split up, Harley and Ivy covering the doors as Alex began placing his charges on the crates containing weapons. While he was busy setting charges Harley wandered around a row of containers, carefully stepping over the bodies of guards, their bodies twisted into broken heaps from Ivy tossing them around. Seeing that the guards were indeed dead she turned to head back when she heard a noise coming from one of the containers. Believing that some of the guards had hidden in the container she cautiously moved towards it, weapon raised as she reached for the latch. But when she opened it instead of finding armed guards she found herself looking into the faces of several scared young girls.

"Please help us…" The oldest one pleaded as she held one of the younger girls. Harley, still not over the shock just nodded her head as she lowered her weapon.

"Sergeant! You should come look at this!" She shouted over her shoulder.

"En route!" Came his reply. Shortly after he rounded the corner and stopped next to her. "What's up?" He asked, to which Harley just nodded in the direction of the container. Alex turned his eyes to the contents of the container and they immediately went wide when he saw the kids. "What the fuck…Isley! Get over here!" He shouted back.

Hearing the urgency in his voice Ivy quickly jogged over. "What's going on?"

"They weren't just shipping weapons and ammo…"

Ivy looked into the container and saw the group of young girls, rage immediately building in her. She knew exactly what would have happened to these girls if they hadn't arrived.

"We can't blow these charges with them on board. Bab's, get ahold of the bird and tell them we need a pick up, ETA five minutes." He ordered over the radio before turning back to the others.

" _On it."_

"We can't have them see these bodies, you two go search the remaining containers for more kids then hide the bodies in one. I'll hang back and watch these ones."

"Got it Sarn't." The two replied before walking off to carry out their tasks. Alex turned back to the girls who flinched away from him.

"Hey hey, it's alright. We're the good guys." Alex soothed after squatting down to get on their level. There where five of them, the oldest looking to be in her early teens. They looked to be fine, they'd most likely have some emotional or mental trauma that he couldn't see, but physically they were fine to his relief.

"I wanna go home!" Sobbed one of the younger girls.

"I know sweetheart, we're going to get you home, alright? Those men can't hurt you anymore." he told her, taking her hand to offer some comfort.

"We heard the shooting…you killed them?" The oldest one asked as her eyes settled on the rifle in Alex's hands. The question caught Alex off guard but he slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah..."

"Good…"

"Hey Sergeant, we're good to go!" Harley shouted from behind the stacks of containers.

"Roger! Alright kids I'm gonna take you to a helicopter, stay behind me, ok?" The kids nodded in response before following closely behind Alex. "Harley take point, Isley cover the rear." He ordered as the two rejoined him. Alex and his team lead the group off kids out of the cargo hold and through the ship up to the main deck where the Barbara waited with Watcher 1-5 hovering just above the deck.

"Wow, it's Batgirl!" The kids cheered excitedly upon seeing one of Gotham's well known heroes. Barbara smiled down at the girls as she helped Alex quickly usher the girls into the helicopter and strap them in. Once they were safe in the helicopter Alex turned his attention back to Barbara.

"Go with them, make sure they get home safe!" He shouted over the noise of the helicopters rotors.

"What about you guys!?"

"Still got set off those charges! We'll hitch a ride on one of the lifeboats once we're done!"

"I'll get it done Sarn't, good luck!" She said before climbing up into the helicopter and shutting the door. The Black Hawk then rose and flew off towards Gotham, disappearing into the night as it flew away. Alex was confident that Barbara could handle the kids but he'd still check in with her later to make sure she got the job done. But first there was still the matter of completing their original task...

"Alright, let's set these fuckers off and get the hell of this boat." Alex told the other two as he withdrew a detonator from one of the pouches on his LBV. He quickly checked to make sure the device was still synched to the explosives emplaced down below, flicking the safety off once he saw the connection was good. "Fire in the hole." He warned before activating the detonator. A muffled _"Boom!"_ then came from as the charges exploded, destroying the weapons held below.

With the crew dead and the weapons destroyed there was no point to sticking around any longer so the three made their way to one of the lifeboats, climbing in and lowering it into the ocean where they left the freighter behind and headed back towards Gotham. They rode in silence for a good ways, Alex staring into the water in thought as Harley steered the boat. Suddenly Ivy spoke up from where she sat at the rear of the boat.

"We can't let Penguins goons keep stealing girls, we should shut them down." She said to the others. She'd always known that Penguin supplied various goods to his clients but she hadn't known that he had expanded into human trafficking, especially the trafficking of minors. The thought made her sick and she wanted nothing more than to make him pay for attempting to rob children of their lives.

Alex looked up at her and nodded. "I'm down, Harley?"

"That even a question?"

"Alright then, steer this piece of shit towards the docks. Shouldn't be too hard to find the place, just look for the assholes with guns." He ordered before retrieving his radio. "Watcher One-Five this is Knight, Over?"

" _Send it for One-Five."_

"You guys drop of those kids yet?"

" _That's an A-firm Knight, we dropped them and Bravo-Golf off at the park."_

"Roger, we're en route to the docks and are expecting things to get pretty dicey, requesting aerial support, Over?"

" _Roger, give us time to refuel and rearm and we'll meet you there. Watcher One-Five out."_

"Alright then, let's go smoke these fucks…"

 **...Mission Complete…**


	34. Chapter 34

**It's true, I love my Modern Warfare. One of the better Call of Duties in both campaign and multiplayer in my opinion. My friends and I have had many late nights with that game. And speaking of games, who else is ready to slay some bodies in Injustice 2? And by that I mean mashing buttons to see what happens, cause I'm terrible at fighting games but I managed to bullshit my way through the first game and I'll do it again, Rah?**

 **...**

" _I've got eyes on armed personnel five-hundred meters to your twelve o'clock. Looks to be about a platoon sized element."_

"Roger Watcher. Once we get fifty meters out light em' up with that Minigun."

" _Copy."_

Alex and his team moved through the rows of warehouses and shipping containers littering the docks, the storm obscuring them from any form of detection. Up above Watcher 1-5 circled, it's crew ready to fire on the unsuspecting thugs down below. Once the ground team was within fifty meters of the building Penguin's thugs were guarding Watcher 1-5 opened up with its Minigun.

The first group of thugs were instantly killed as a flurry of bullets tore them to pieces, the guns _"BRRRT"_ audible over the raging storm. Those not cut down immediately looked to the sky to find the source of the fire but the noise and sparks of the Miniguns tracers were the only thing that made the Black Hawk detectable.

While they looked for the helicopter Alex, Harley, and Ivy got into position and ambushed the thugs. Caught between Watcher 1-5's Minigun and the gunfire from the ground team Penguin's thugs had nowhere to run as they were cut down.

" _Perimeter guard neutralized. We'll keep circling while you guys clear out the target building. Happy hunting guys."_

"Roger One-Five, making our way in now." Alex replied as they broke cover and headed towards the building the thugs had been guarding.

A feeling of Deja-vu overcame Alex as he remembered his first mission in Gotham, when he had killed the Riddler and his goons, going similar to the op he was conducting.

Alex and Ivy stacked up on one side of the warehouses door while Harley withdrew a sledgehammer and took the other side. After a quick nod from Alex, Harley swung her hammer at the door, caving in the center and breaking it off its hinges. Alex and Ivy quickly rushed in, neutralizing any guards in the immediate area and giving Harley time to reequip her weapon and join them.

"Fan out and secure the building, use of deadly force is authorized." Alex ordered as he headed towards the rows of containers held in the building. Harley nodded and took off, climbing the containers up to the catwalks leaving Ivy to wander towards the small rows of offices adjacent to the storage area.

As she navigated the offices Ivy heard the shouting, the reports of the goons AK's and muffled _PFFTS_ of her comrade's weapons. Somewhere in the building she heard a hand grenade explode followed by the screams of those caught in the blast. While the battle seemed to be picking up she was confident in the Sergeant's abilities to keep himself and Harley alive while she searched, for what she did not know.

The offices where mostly empty and Ivy was about to leave when she heard a cough coming from a nearby supply closet. She quickly whirled around, weapon raised, and fired a single shot through the door, a cry of pain echoing inside the closet. Keeping her weapon raised Ivy shot a vine from her off hand and ripped the door from its hinges, revealing a middle-aged man in a disheveled suit nursing his leg were Ivy had shot him. Ivy willed her vine to wrap around the man's ankle and dragged him out of the closet, depositing him at her feet where he cowered in fear.

"What do you know about Penguins operations!?" Ivy demanded, her eyes boring into the man.

"I don't know nothing lady, honest!" He whimpered.

"Don't fuck with me! I know Penguin runs his trafficking business from here, now tell me what you know!" She shouted angrily, driving her heel into the bullet wound on his leg for emphasis. The man howled in pain and grasped at the wound.

"Ok ok! This is the only port Penguin runs his trafficking out of, I swear! Once you and your buddies take it out that's it!"

"Not good enough!"

"Ok, listen! Last time I was at the Iceberg I overheard Penguin talking to some lady about a meeting. Something about setting up a supply trade."

"Who was this woman?"

"I didn't get a name, but she said she worked for a something era."

"The New Era?" Her eyes widened as she processed this new information. They hadn't had a run in with the group since Alex had been shot some months ago, probably staying low after being publicly declared a terrorist organization by the Department of Defense. But now it appeared that they were ready to resume their operations, if what this man was saying was true.

"Yeah, that was it! They're moving in and need asked Penguin to supply em' with ammo and what not!"

"Where is the meeting taking place at?"

"A few clicks north of that town on the outskirts the military bombed some months back. Here I'll write down the details fer ya."

Ivy nodded but kept her eyes on the man as he crawled over to a desk and rummaged around for a scrap of paper and something to write with. Finding what he needed he hastily scribbled down the information and offered the paper to Ivy, who snatched it from the man and quickly read it over before stashing it away for later.

"So, you'll let me go, right?" The man asked nervously after Ivy stashed the paper away. Her response was to quickly snap his neck with the vine protruding from her wrist.

As she left the body behind Ivy noticed that the sounds of battle had died down and as she navigated her way through the rows of containers, stepping over several bodies along the way, she found Alex and Harley finishing off the last of Penguins thugs.

"Ah, there you are. Everything alright?" Alex asked as Ivy joined the two.

"Yeah, I'm fine Sergeant. What about you two?"

"We're good to grow Red! Get it? Good to grow, cause your a plant..?" Harley replied cheerfully, laughing at the pun she'd made as Alex and Ivy stared at her with raised brows. "No…? I thought it was funny…"

"Don't make stupid puns like that again please, your Pros and Cons will be reflecting by the way." Alex chided as he shook his head in embarrassment.

"Fuck…"

"Now, if we're done we should get back to the bird and get outta here before local PD shows up."

They left the warehouse to find Watcher 1-5 already waiting for them and they quickly boarded as the sounds of distant police sirens began to draw closer. Once safely in the air the three relaxed and watched as the police swarmed the warehouse they'd just vacated moments ago. It was a short flight home and the three were grateful to drop their gear in Alex's apartment after such a long night, the wall mounted clock showing it was several hours past midnight. Alex offered Ivy his couch for the night which she thankfully accepted, too tired to make the journey to her own home at such a late hour.

Ivy laid on the couch and waited for Alex and Harley to wander off to their now shared bedroom before pulling out the scrap of paper she'd obtained from Penguins goon. She reread the information, noting the meeting was taking place in a few days from now, the grid coordinates scrawled down below the time and date. Ivy knew she should probably tell the others about it, but a part of her wanted to handle the situation on her own, to prove to her superiors that she was indeed worthy of the trust they placed in her. After all, Alex wouldn't have pushed so hard for her to be promoted two whole grades and name her his second if he didn't fully trust her judgement.

So, she'd apply for a leave of absence and figure out what Penguin and the New Era where planning before they could gain a foot hold in the city. But that would have to wait for a few more days, for now the former villain drifted off into a peaceful sleep knowing she had helped save the lives of innocent children and punished those that would have abused them for their own gain.

She knew now more than ever that she had made the right choice in joining this ragtag team of misfits. She was helping to save the world, maybe not in the way she had originally envisioned herself doing so, but it was a start.

 **…Mission Complete…**


	35. Chapter 35

Barbara, Harley, and Ivy waited patiently in the recruitment office as Alex typed away on his keyboard, still catching up on the paperwork he'd missed during their stint in 29 Palms. He massaged his forehead and sighed before looking up at his charges.

"Look guys, I gotta catch up on this paperwork and write up your monthly counseling's by close of shop today. Barbara how's your schooling going?"

"I'm all caught up Sergeant, but I do have class today after lunch."

"Alright, your dismissed. Once your classes are come back by eighteen hundred and we'll go over your counseling and then you'll be done for today."

"Sounds good Sergeant, I'll see you then." She replied before gathering her things and leaving.

"As for you two, I need you guys to PT the kids at sixteen hundred and then come in for your own counseling's. Isley I've approved your leave and I'll check you out on time, just make sure you report in on time."

"Thanks Sergeant."

"Don't mention it. Other than that, I have nothing for you until sixteen, so go and enjoy yourselves until then. You can do what you want for the PT, but I swear to General Mattis if I hear anything about you hazing them I'll fuck your shit up, understood?"

"Perfectly."

"Then get the fuck outta hear." He told them, tossing Harley the keys to the new SUV they'd been issued after the Challenger was destroyed.

The two didn't need any more encouragement, quickly making their way out the door and into the morning air. They walked across the street and stopped at the coffee shop for breakfast, sitting outside just as they had before Ivy had introduced herself to Alex.

"So, we gotta lot of time to kill. Any ideas on what you want to do Harl?"

"Hmm, well I could use your help with something back home if that's alright with you."

"Sure, whatever you need."

After eating Harley drove them back to the apartment where she quickly got distracted playing games on Alex's Xbox, dragging Ivy into playing along with her.

"Ugh, how do people find this amusing? I keep dying over and over again." Ivy pouted as she watched herself die again. They were in the middle of an online match on Modern Warfare and their team was losing thanks to Ivy's constant dying. "This is hardly realistic…"

"It's not supposed to be realistic Red, it's a game." Harley reminded her.

"it's a stupid game, that's what it is…"

"Aw, is Poison Ivy upset that she got beaten by kids?" Harley teased.

"I am not upset!"

"You sure look upset!"

"Rggh! I'll show you!" Ivy shouted, picking up her controller and resuming the game. She only managed to move a few feet before being quick scoped by the opposing team. "Fuck this bullshit!" She screamed, tossing the controller across the room before pouting with her arms crossed over her chest.

"It's ok Pammy, you don't have to be good at everything." Harley said as she wrapped her arms around the redhead and rested her head on her shoulder.

"I never said I was good at everything…"

"Oh, bullshit you haven't."

"Well obviously, I'm not!" Ivy replied.

"And you don't have to be, I love you just the way you are." Harley told her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and making Ivy blush. Ivy looked away to try and hide her blush failed as Harley turned her head back and kissed her softly. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, the two often had dalliances when Harley was away from the Joker, Ivy often trying to win her favor over the man to no avail. It had been common for Harley to fool around with Ivy back then, which is why she saw nothing wrong with kissing her now.

Ivy had known for a while that she loved Harley as more than friends and she was pretty sure Harley knew that, but as much as Ivy enjoyed kissing her she had to remind herself that the girl was in a committed relationship now, and she quickly pushed Harley off of her to the other woman's surprise.

"Stop it Harley, you're in a relationship, remember?" Ivy scolded, but Harley ignored her and leaned in again.

"That never bothered you before..." The blonde replied seductively, kissing Ivy's neck. Ivy pushed her back again and held her at an arm's length in order to reason with her.

"I know that, but I could care less if Joker knew. Alex is your best friend who loves you to death, I won't hurt him that way and if you love him like you said you did, you shouldn't either."

"But…" Harley begun, confused as to why Ivy was ignoring her advances unlike before.

"No buts Harley, I love you but I won't let you be unfaithful to the one man that's actually good for you. If you truly love him then commit to him." Ivy reasoned with her. After processing her friend's words. Harley sighed and looked away ashamed.

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"Harley, I may not have your heart but I'll always be your friend no matter what. That much is certain…and as long as you're happy, I'm happy." It hurt Ivy to say those words, she'd tried for so long to earn the girl's affection that telling her to commit to someone else felt like being kicked in the gut, but she meant it. Seeing her happy was enough and she'd always be there for her.

"Thanks Red, you're the best."

"I'm really happy for you Harl, truly. Just don't fuck this one up, alright?"

"I won't, promise."

"Good, now didn't you need help with something?"

"Oh, right! I totally forgot!"

A few minutes later Harley was sitting in front of the bathroom mirror, Ivy standing behind her holding a pair of clippers.

"You're sure about this?" Ivy asked for the hundredth time.

"Yes Ivy, I'm one-hundred percent positive." She replied. Harley had decided that having to put her hair up every time she was in uniform was too much of a hassle, so she was going to cut it down to avoid it all together.

"But your hair is so beautiful, I don't want to destroy it!"

"Look, either you help me or I'll do it myself." The thought of Harley maiming her own her was enough of a motivator for Ivy, at least if she did it she could do it right.

"Fine, but you made me do this." Ivy quickly pulled up the grooming standard on her phone and read it aloud to herself. "Hair may touch the collar, but will not fall below the collars edge. Hmm, well at least there's some room for trial and error."

Knowing what to do, Ivy began cutting away at Harley's hair, doing her best to keep it even while Harley kept her eyes closed. It wasn't long before Ivy was done and when Harley opened her eyes she hardly recognized herself in the mirror.

"So, how is it?" Ivy asked nervously, hoping that she'd done a good enough job of not maiming her friend's hair.

Harley turned her head left and right to get a better view, seeing that her hair now framed her face and ended just below her jawline.

"It looks great Red, you did a great job!"

"That's a relief, I was worried I'd mess up and have to resort to just shaving your head completely!"

"Well thank god you didn't." Harley laughed before checking the time. "Oh shit, it's almost four! We gotta get back to the office!"

They quickly scrambled to change into the green PT uniform and rushed back to the RSS, finding the group of about twenty Poolees waiting outside.

"Hey yahoo's, get around outback!" Harley shouted as she and Ivy jogged up to the building. They quickly ran around back the two followed them behind the building were the kids began warming up. "So, how you wanna do this Red?"

Ivy looked around before noticing a log resting beside the building and grinned. "Hey, go pick that up!" Ivy shouted, snapping her fingers in the direction of the log.

"Aye aye Lance Corporal!" The kids shouted before they scrambled to pick up the heavy piece of wood. They knew enough about Poison Ivy to know that arousing her ire was definitely a bad thing. Of course, she would never hurt them, her hatred of humans having subsided after meeting Harley, but even now she people still looked on her with uncertainty.

Once the log was up the kids formed up on the road, Harley in front lead and set the pace while Ivy stuck to the rear to handle anyone that fell out, encouraging them to catch back up, lest they face her wrath.

"DOUBLE TIME… MARCH!"

The group took off down the street, running towards and around Gotham University, the log being passed around every so often on the move. After running for close to an hour Harley finally led them back towards the office where the Poolees gratefully set the log back down in its place beside the building before beginning cool down stretches. Once done the two sent the kids on their way home and went inside the office, Harley sitting down across from Alex who was still typing away on his keyboard.

"Good afternoon Sergeant." She greeted cheerily, drawing his attention away from whatever work he was doing.

"Good after…what the hell did you do to your hair?" Alex asked, surprised by her new hair style. Ivy laughed at his reaction from where she sat in the back of the room.

"You like it? Ivy cut it for me!"

"Uh, yeah. You look great Harley, It's just gonna take some getting used to, very different from your usual style is all... Whelp, let's get this over with." Alex rifled through some folders, retrieving one with her name written on it and opening it up to a form with writing all over it.

"Alright, this is your scheduled monthly counseling, blah blah blah…Verify this information up here." He told her, pointing to the upper section of the paper. Harley quickly checked it over, raising her brow at the assigned job description.

"I'm an Engineer now?" She questioned, knowing absolutely nothing about that field.

"Well I'm a Combat Engineer and since y'all are learning from me that's what the General has assigned you guys as." Alex quickly explained. "I mean if you'd rather be some desk jockey POG I'm sure I can make that happen."

"Uh, no thanks I'm good..."

"I thought so. We'll skip over the accomplishments and evaluation because I've already talked about it with you before and because we literally did that stuff last night. As for the assigned tasks, just complete this online course and read this publication, cool?"

"Cool."

"Now, the actual important stuff. Your mental health."

"What about it?"

"You've made significant progress in regaining full mental faculties, in my opinion. You've even lost your accent."

"I have? Huh, didn't even notice…"

"Well if it's any consolation you'll pick up using slang terms or swearing often. I don't know if you've noticed but I use terms like Y'all, or Sarn't that I didn't use when we grew up and use fuck or shit in place of the normal filler words."

"Yeah I did notice you swear a lot more than usual…"

"And while we're on the subject of mental health, how do you feel you're doing? You've experienced combat and have been placed under stressful situations, you dealing with it alright?"

"I thought I was the psychiatrist here?"

"Yeah, well it's my responsibility as your Sergeant to look out for your welfare, both mentally and physically. So, I'll ask you again. Is everything alright up in your brain housing group?" He asked, tapping his head for emphasis.

"Honestly, I haven't even thought about it. I'm conscious of what I'm doing but it doesn't bother me. Uh…Systematic desensitization, that's it! Even before I…killed another human being, I was constantly exposed to violence when I was with the Joker. So, killing hasn't had as much of an effect on me as it would other people." Harley explained, remembering her psychiatric training.

"That sounds about right. It's pretty common for us in the military, I've been feeling it a lot since being assigned to this op. But just because it isn't affecting you now doesn't mean it can't sneak up on you later in life, I mean you saw me the other night. You're a Doctor, so you know more about this kinda stuff than I do but make sure your taking care of yourself mentally, alright?"

"I will, trust me I'm not trying to stay at Arkham again any time soon."

"Good to hear. In addition, the General wants you to utilize your psychiatric expertise and evaluate the squad's mental health monthly and provide reports. Is there any reason you cannot perform these duties?"

"None that I can think of."

"Great. Alright I think that's everything. Just sign and date here and your good to grow, as you would say."

"Ugh, you're not gonna let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope, look it even says right here; refrain from making puns in the field and in general."

Harley looked at the paper and saw that it did indeed say that she was to refrain from making puns. Sighing to herself she sighed the paper and handed it back to Alex who replaced it in her folder and put it back where he found it.

"Next!"

 **...**

Alex and Harley sat around the kitchen at home, Alex had prepared dinner and was happily eating when he noticed Harley hadn't touched her food yet, instead just staring at her plate and toying with her fork.

"Something on your mind?" Alex asked concerned. Harley looked up from her plate and sighed.

"Yeah, I…uh, need to apologize to you." She answered, causing Alex to raise his brow in confusion.

"I thought we were through apologizing, remember?"

"We are, but this is different."

"You didn't haze any of my kids, did you?"

"No, of course not!"

"Then what's going on?"

"I…I may have sorta cheated…I kissed Pamela earlier today…" She admitted sadly.

"Oh…" Alex's expression drooped sadly. Ivy was gorgeous, hell he'd say she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, and he doubted he'd be able to compete with her going off of looks alone.

"Look, during the years I was Joker's tool Pam used to look after me whenever I'd get beaten up and we sorta developed a…very friendly relationship." Alex didn't need her to explain what she meant by that.

"I see…you two were lovers?" He'd suspected this before; the way Ivy was so adamant about rescuing Harley and her willingness to sacrifice her freedom for her. He knew that Ivy was into women but he hadn't known Harley was interested in both sexes, not that it bothered him, but it was a surprise none the less as growing up she'd seemed to show only interest in men.

"Yes, but nothing ever came of it! I knew Pam had feelings for me but like a fool, I kept going back to Joker until the two of you and the rest of our friends saved me. And then seeing you alive after so long of thinking you were dead…I remembered how much you meant to me…"

"So then why did you… you know?"

"I…I guess I got so used to being with her that I didn't think any better. But she pushed me away and reminded me that I was with you now…and I realize that it was wrong of me to do it, that I hurt her by playing with her emotions like that. I love Pam, she was always there for me when I needed her no matter how much heartache I put her through, but…I chose you and I still do…"

"Hey, I understand what you're saying. Isley…Pamela, means a great deal to you and its ok to for you to love her…to be there for her like she was with you as a friend. But I am grateful that you've chosen me…I really do love you, you know that, right?"

"I do…and I love you too." And she meant it, with all her heart.

 **...Mission Complete…**

* * *

 **NAVMC 2795 (Guide to Counseling's)**

 **A. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION**

 **Marine Reported On:**

 **Last Name: Quinzel**

 **First Name: Harleen**

 **MI: F**

 **SSN:***-**-******

 **Rank: PVT/E-1**

 **DOR: 20170501**

 **PMOS: 1371 Combat Engineer**

 **BILMOS: N/A**

 **Occasion: Scheduled**

 **Period Covered: 20170501-20170706**

 **Marine Performing Counseling (Reporting Senior):**

 **Last Name: Westbrook**

 **First Name: Alexander**

 **MI: S**

 **SSN:***-**-******

 **Rank: SGT/E-5**

 **DOR: 20150501**

 **PMOS: 1371 Combat Engineer**

 **BILMOS: 8411 Recruiter**

 **B. BILLET TITLE (Description if Required)**

 **Basic Combat Engineer, Psychological Analysist**

 **C.** **MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS/SIGNIFICANT EVENTS THIS PERIOD**

 **-Completed Specialized Training at MCAGCC 29 Palms and Earned Title of Marine**

 **-Assisted in Preventing Illegal Arms Shipment on 20170705**

 **-Assisted in Preventing Human Trafficking on 20170705**

 **D.** **EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE THIS PERIOD**

 **-PVT Quinzel gives %100 Effort in Accomplishing Tasks, Whether in Training Events or Combat Operations and Maintains a Positive Attitude Even in Stressful Situations.**

 **-PVT Quinzel Often Motivates Her Peers and Was Essential in Maintaining Positive Morale During Intensive Training at MCAGCC 29 Palms.**

 **E.** **TASKS ASSIGNED NEXT PERIOD/ GOALS**

 **-Complete** _ **"Leading Marines"**_ **Course on Marine Net by 20170801**

 **-Read and Report on** _ **"Combat Operations"**_ **From FM 5-34/MCRP 3-17A ENGINEER FIELD DATA**

 **F.** **ADDITIONAL COMMENTS**

 **-PVT Quinzel Has Made Significant Progress in Regaining Full Mental Faculties. Recommended for Promotion to Private First Class Once Required Time in Service/ Time in Grade Criteria Are Met.**

 **-By Direction of General Anderson, PVT Quinzel is to Act as Squad Psychological Analysist and Provide Monthly Reports of Squad Mental Health to Commanding Officer and Preform Other Duties Thereunto Pertaining to This Assignment.**

 **-PVT Quinzel Should Refrain from Making Puns in the Field and in General as They Are Detrimental to the Good Order and Discipline Expected of Marines.**

 **G.** **CERTIFICATION**

 **Signature of Marine Performing Counseling (Reporting Senior):**

 _ **SGT ALEXANDER S WESTBROOK**_

 **Date: 20170706**

 **Signature of Marine Reported On:**

 _ **PVT HARLEEN F QUINZEL**_

 **Date: 20170706**


	36. Chapter 36

Ivy wandered through the abandoned village outside Gotham, the buildings blown to bits and large impact craters dotting the streets, the only building left standing being a modest church in the center of the town. When she had heard that Joker's gang had been decimated she'd been ecstatic, laughing at her television as the camera panned across the still burning town. Immediately after the military had swooped in to clean up the mess, removing the bodies and discarded equipment, leaving the village an empty husk. But being here in person, the flora surrounding the town replayed the events in her mind and she smiled happily as she watched the destruction.

It was beginning to get dark as Ivy completed her tour of the village and she took shelter in the abandoned church, shutting the doors behind her. Taking in her surroundings Ivy was unsettled by how eerie the church looked as the moonlight cast ominous shadows around the interior. Ivy wasn't a religious person by any means nor did she believe in ghosts or demons, but she couldn't escape the feeling that she was being watched as she strode through the house devoted to God. What disturbed her the most was a statue depicting Jesus on the cross, his eyes seemed to follow her across the room, judging her, so she remedied the issue by throwing a tarp over the statue.

With her mind at ease Ivy set about making her sleeping arrangements, removing her sleeping bag from her pack and climbing in. She didn't need to worry about being discovered, the plants outside would alert her if anyone came snooping around, and even alone as she was she was more than capable of handling herself.

 **...**

Waking at the crack of dawn Ivy packed away her sleeping bag and munched on some of the food she'd brought along before heading north into the woods, putting the abandoned town behind her. Walking through the forest, being surrounded by nature, and breathing in the fresh air was a relaxing change from being in the congested city environment of Gotham. But the serenity was quickly broken as the noise of rotors overwhelmed the quiet.

Looking up through the canopy Ivy spotted the offending aircraft, a soviet era MI-24 gunship flew overhead in the same direction she was traveling. Penguin didn't own such a craft so it must have belonged to the New Era, how they managed to operate the craft without being detected was a mystery to her but if they owned one of those what else did they have in their arsenal?

Once the gunship was gone Ivy was alerted to a new noise, this time a convoy of expensive black cars belonging to Penguin drove down the nearby road. Ivy quickly dropped to her stomach and hid behind a shrub to avoid detection, her black and green suit combined with the swirling green patterns that covered her skin breaking up the shape of her body, her flaming red hair being the only thing that would give her away if one looked hard enough. She hadn't brought any weapons with her, the forest providing her with all the offensive capabilities she'd need, but this was a recon mission so avoiding contact was in her best interest. Once the cars passed Ivy resumed her journey, quickening her pace to arrive on time.

Using the plants to guide her, Ivy came across a clearing where Penguin's convoy had halted, armed guards patrolling around the area. She once again laid on her stomach to obscure herself just as the gunship flew back overhead, circling once before touching down across from the cars.

As the rotors slowed to a halt the gunships side door opened and several New Era troopers jumped out to secure the area. Ivy hadn't faced the troopers yet herself, but these ones looked different from the one's she'd heard about, likely using the past few months to update their gear. They now wore urban disruptive camouflage fatigues under coyote tan flak jackets, their faces covered by balaclavas and Kevlar helmets instead of the all black uniforms they used to wear. The troopers cradled variants of the Israeli Galil assault rifle in their arms and carried a sidearm on their hip. They looked more like a professional military force compared to Penguin's goons with their mismatched armor and Chinese Type-56 AK knockoffs.

One of the troopers spoke back into the gunship before two more people stepped out, one being the woman Ivy had heard about and the other an older man close to General Anderson's age. Ivy recognized the woman from Harley's description of her failed date with Alex, Caucasian brunette with ragged scars along the left side of her face where Alex had smashed a bottle across. She even carried the same shotgun she'd threatened Ivy's friends with across her back. The man was also Caucasian with short graying dark hair, his features withered with age but despite his apparent frailty he carried himself in a way that commanded authority.

Across from them Penguin emerged from his limousine and to Ivy's surprise Catwoman and Bane in tow. Penguin had likely hired the large, Venom addicted wrestler as an enforcer but why Catwoman would involve herself with Penguin's schemes was over her head.

Selina had been Ivy's friend for a few years now, the two sharing the fact that they were Gotham's most accomplished female rogues and while they fought verbally sometimes they'd never had any reason to harm each other, save when Selina occasionally grew a conscious and helped Batman out, though Ivy guessed that could apply to her now being that she was officially enlisted in the military.

The rogues crossed the field, armed goons in tow, meeting in the middle with the New Era forces, Penguin shaking the older man's hand in greeting. From her position, Ivy couldn't hear what they were saying by ear so she tapped into her connection to the Green, using the flora as her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation.

" _Greetings General Nelson, I've heard much about your organization and it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."_ Ivy never heard of this General Nelson before but she assumed by his title that he was either prior military or had an ego larger than hers and she didn't know which was worse.

" _The pleasure is mine Mr. Cobblepot, have you looked over the proposal my Lieutenant brought you?"_

" _I have indeed and I do believe we can come to an arrangement. I can supply your lot with the munitions needed and in turn your soldiers take care of some of my competition."_

So that man she'd interrogated had been right about Penguin supplying the New Era, but there had to be more to this than a simple arms deal.

" _Of course, these second-rate dealers will be no problem for my men to deal with. With luck the Bat and his crew will come running to their aid, and we can take them all out at once."_

Ah, there it was. Using the violence to draw out Batman…She'd be sure to warn Barbara about that when she got back.

" _That would be mighty convenient, though I should warn you that the Bat isn't one to be underestimated."_

Wasn't that the truth, Ivy had done that more times than she could count and it always resulted in another stint at Arkham afterwards. Had she realized her skill with firearms earlier that might not have been the case, but fortunately for them both they were more or less allies now.

" _I'm aware of this, but my men are ready for him."_

Right, better men have tried and failed…of course Ivy was no man but she felt that she fit that category…

" _Here's hoping mate, but even with him and his lads out of the way there's still those traitorous girls, Quinn and Ivy running around playing soldier."_

Marine… Ivy thought angrily, that rotund bag of ass could at least get that right, for old times' sake.

" _Ah yes, them…they just show how far this country has fallen, that they would accept such scum into the Marines. I remember a time when the Corps had honor, when we didn't take their likes into our ranks. But it matters not, Quinn is just a nuisance, an ant to be squashed, and with the information we've recovered from our site in Seattle, Poison Ivy will be nothing more than a weed to be removed."_

That got Ivy's attention. Seattle was her she had been…changed…into the being she was now. The process had been painful…degrading…and completely involuntarily in every sense of the word. She didn't know what they hoped to gain there but she'd make sure they paid dearly for digging into her life like it was an open book.

" _I like your way of thinking, just make sure they suffer…Now I do have some concerns, you plan on taking out the Justice League and their little support groups, right? Most of em should die easy enough with some bullets but some may be more of a, let's say nuisance, than others."_

" _Your referring to the Kryptonians aren't you? As everyone knows they're powers are rendered useless when exposed to kryptonite or red sun radiation. The radiation, while effective, is difficult to employ in a tactical sense but if I can get enough kryptonite to weaponize they'll pose little threat to us._

" _Yes, but if I'm not mistaken it's rather hard to come by, only bloke that I know with a substantial amount would be that Luthor fellow up in Metropolis and I doubt he's willing to share."_

" _Why share when I have the means to take. My Lieutenant is working on a plan that will strike where he least expects it, giving us the means to 'negotiate' for what I want."_

Weaponized kryptonite, seemed awfully troublesome and expense just to kill a very, very, small amount of people, although Kryptonians are some of the most powerful people on the planet so perhaps it was warranted. How would they weaponize it though? Hopefully they'd shut them down before she found out.

" _Seems like you got it all planned out then. Well I won't hold you any longer, we've both got our parts to play in this plan of yours."_

" _Very well, it's been a pleasure Mr. Cobblepot, I look forward to working with you."_

The two parties parted ways for their respective vehicles, Penguin's convoy pulling out back onto the gravel road and General Nelson's Gunship lifting off and flying east towards the Appalachians. Lying prone for several more minutes to be sure she was once again alone Ivy finally stood and stretched out her limbs in preparation for the hike back.

As she walked through the forest Ivy reflected on what she'd learned, the New Era's plan being more ambitious than she or the others had originally perceived, and what role her friend Selina played in it. She wouldn't enjoy having to put her down, but if she decided to side with the enemy she knew that her superiors wouldn't think twice before shooting her. Selina may be able to dodge rounds fired from the average thug or policemen but the military was a whole different beast as Ivy was quickly learning the more she worked with them.

Ivy had a lot of new intel to report back but she decided to take a slight detour and head to Selina's apartment for a "friendly" conversation…

… **Mission Complete…**

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, but remember to give thanks to those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live our lives free today. Rest easy brothers and sisters, we have the watch...**

 **Semper Fidelis**


	37. Chapter 37

It was past midnight when Ivy arrived back in Gotham but even at this late hour she had managed to beat Selina back to her home, climbing in through one of the windows. Ivy carefully crept through the house being careful not to trip over anything in the darkened house as she made her way to the living room. Upon entering she heard a hiss and low growl, finding Selina's cat glaring at her from where it sat next to the fireplace.

"Shoo you mangy beast!" Ivy hissed back, swatting at the black cat to scare it away. The cat gave her one last hiss before darting away into another room. Completely alone now Ivy took stock of her surroundings, noting the house hadn't changed since the last time she'd been there, expensive furniture and décor lined the rooms, no doubt the result of Selina's nightly activities. Ivy had little care for such luxuries herself, but to each their own she guessed.

She didn't have to wait long for Selina to return, the redhead quickly pressing her back to the nearest wall to hide as the thief walked in. Ivy waited for Selina to walk past her before quickly ensnaring her, startling the other woman who thrashed about to free herself but Ivy's hold only tightened. Realizing that she wasn't going anywhere Selina quit her struggling and glared at her assailant to find Ivy smirking at her.

"Pamela? What the hell!?" She shouted angrily.

"I could ask you the same thing Selina. Never took you for one to work with terrorists…"

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

"Oh, don't be coy. I saw you with Penguin and Bane, talking to those thugs in the woods. What would Batman say if he found out his little girlfriend was on the wrong side of the law again?"

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend…And secondly you have no idea what you're talking about, I don't work for Penguin and certainly not those brutes."

"Really? It doesn't look that way from where I'm seeing it." Ivy snarled, her patience wearing thin at Selina's word games. She willed her vines to tighten further, restricting Selina's airflow and causing her to gasp for air.

"Pamela…Please…" She gulped out, eyes wide with fear as she tried in vain to claw at the vine wrapped around her neck. Ivy held her grip for another second before releasing her neck and allowing her to breathe again.

"Better talk fast Kitty before I take one of your nine lives."

"Damnit Pamela we're on the same side! I'm spying on them for the Defense Department!" She quickly revealed, but Ivy shook her head in disbelief.

"Please Selina, we can't all be working for the government, now can we?" Ivy chided, tightening her vine once more.

"It's true! Who do you think told you're boss about that cargo ship last week!?" Selina quickly replied. Ivy looked into her eyes for any signs of deception, but finding none she released her grip and dropped Selina to the floor. Selina rubbed her throat and stood before explaining further. "I was approached by the CIA a few months back, they offered me pardons in exchange for information on the rogues. My contact is General Anderson, you're boss. I've been feeding him information for some time now."

"Did you tell him anything about me or Harley?" Ivy questioned. Friend or not, she'd kill Selina if she put Harley in danger.

"Nothing he didn't already know, but that's irrelevant seeing as how you're both working for him now _Lance Corporal_ Isley…" Selina spat venomously.

"That's _Doctor_ Lance Corporal Isley thank you." Ivy reminded her, causing Selina to roll her eyes.

"Of course, how could I forget…now did you come here for anything other than to strangle me?"

"Can you blame me for being cautious? You do have a bit of a track record betraying me for Batman after all." Ivy glared.

"Only when your schemes threatened to tear down the city and kill millions of people. I'm surprised you were even allowed in the military with all the crap on your record."

"It was a lot of paperwork from what I hear, but obviously I was well worth the trouble." Ivy smiled, more to herself than Selina.

Selina sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Well it certainly hasn't helped your ego…"

"My ego is just fine thank you, now what's Penguin planning?" Ivy asked, steering the conversation back to more important matters.

"All I know is that he's agreed to a partnership with old guy, General Nelson, guess he's the one in charge of this New Era group that's been causing so much trouble, but Penguin doesn't trust him. There's a rumor going around he's trying to set up an alliance with the other major players in case Nelson betrays him."

"Hmm, smart on his part but bad for us if it's true. We're stretched pretty thin as is combating the New Era and tracking the rogues down individually, having two large groups could be…problematic…"

"You're telling me. Look Penguin's sending me to liaison between him and Nelson, I'll be able to provide you guys with more information once I'm with them." Selina offered. Having heard enough Ivy passed her and headed towards the door.

"Just don't get caught, I'd hate for them to take one of your lives before I do. Now, as entertaining as this was I do have to report back. Later Cat…"

"Yeah, whatever…" Selina replied, crossing her arms as Ivy opened the door before calling out to her again. "Hey Pam? Look out for Harley, will you? She's been through enough and I don't want to see her get hurt again." Selina's friendship with Ivy was questionable at times, but just like Ivy Selina also wanted the best for Harley after everything she'd been through.

Ivy stopped in her tracks and looked back at Selina over her shoulder. "I'll die before that happens…"

 **…**

Alex sat alone in his living room. Harley was out shopping, no doubt spending her money on more microwave pizza and soda. Alex had finally caught up on all of his paperwork for the recruiting office and his counseling's had been sent up to higher for review leaving him with nothing to do but sit at home and relax.

Currently he was adding the last few pieces to a Lego AT-AT, having started building the set after Harley left. Building the thing had actually been rather fun, taking his mind off of all the things that usually floated around in his brain and he was excited to see the finished product and find somewhere to display it. He was just about to add the last piece, his attention focused solely on putting it in the right place when someone started banging loudly on the front door.

The sudden loud noise startled Alex, causing him to jump and accidently knock the Lego off the table where it shattered into pieces on the floor. "Motherfucker!" Alex cried in dismay, all his work for the past few hours ruined…

He threw down the piece he'd been holding and headed for the door, muttering curses as he did. Alex yanked open the door to find Ivy waiting on the other side, an expectant look on her face.

"Isley? What the hell?" Alex asked, having not expected to see her until her leave ended in two more days.

Ivy pushed past him and into the living room, noting the shattered Lego by the table. "You're the second person to ask me that today Sergeant." She replied humorously.

"Well if you pound on all doors like they owe you money I wonder why? Not that I don't enjoy your company but aren't you supposed to be on leave?" Alex asked again, shutting the door behind him as he joined her in the living room.

She just shrugged in response before taking Alex's spot on the couch. "What's all this?" Ivy asked, picking up one of the Lego pieces of the ground in front of her.

"I was trying to relax and build that." Alex answered, pointing to the box on the table. "…Was almost done too until you rudely interrupted me and I knocked it over because you scared the crap out of me."

"Right…Sorry about that. Where's Harley?"

"Do I look like her babysitter to you?"

"Well she does have a tendency to get herself into trouble when left alone so maybe you should be…" Ivy replied sarcastically.

"That…Is an excellent point." Alex reluctantly agreed. "So, what brings you by so early in the morning?"

"So, let's say that instead of being on vacation I was actually following up on a lead I found during the mission last week and learned a lot of intel on the enemy…"

Alex sighed and rubbed his forehead, the beginnings of a migraine coming on. "You know if I was still a Corporal I'd be upset at this news, probably yell a lot and haze the dog shit out of you for taking such a risk without telling me about it. But I'm not a Corporal am I? Instead I'm just going to tell you that I'm disappointed, but also that I'm glad you have the initiative to do things on your own. You ever hear the saying _Good initiative, Bad judgement_? That pretty much sums this up. But if you did learn some important stuff the General should definitely know."

Ivy was surprised that he wasn't that upset that she'd gone on a mission without him or backup. "You're not mad?"

"What kind of Sergeant would I be if I didn't let my Lance Corporals grow on their own. Besides, being as old as you are I'd hope you'd have enough experience to make the right choices."

"Thanks…I think?"

"I'll call the General, you can tell him everything you've learned. But first, your gonna pick up all those damn parts you made me spill…"

Ivy sighed as she looked at the mound of Lego pieces before getting up from the couch. "Aye Sergeant…"

 **…**

After Ivy explained to Alex everything she'd overheard he'd called everyone over for a meeting with the General, the ground element consisting of himself, Barbara, Harley, and Ivy, Watcher 1-5's crew, Captain Charles Thomas, 1st Lieutenant Catherine Sanders, and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Medina, Along with their representatives to the Justice League, Batman and Robin. Everyone crammed into the living room to pay attention as Ivy briefed General Anderson over video conference on what she'd learned.

" _General Nelson… That's a name I haven't heard in a few years."_ The General said to himself.

"You know him Sir?" Alex asked curiously.

" _Yes, he was my subordinate during the Gulf war. Superman and other meta-humans were just beginning to arrive on the scene, making their mark on the world. The United States was happy to_ _have_ _their assistance but Nelson wasn't trusting of them. He began preaching that Superman and those like him would bring about our destruction. Needless to say, he was relieved of command and retired."_

"Well it looks like he got bored of it."

" _Yes, it would seem that way. Regardless, he's threating innocent lives and needs to be stopped. Isley mentioned he was planning to get ahold of some kryptonite from Lex Luthor. Do we have any leads on that?"_

Barbara had been looking for anything related to Luthor that might peek the New Era's interest and had discovered a way they could get to him. "I got something here Sir. Luthor's sister, Lena, is hosting a charity event in National City next week. It's being held in a shopping center and will be open to the public, making it an easy target. I think they'll try to use Lena to get what they want out of Lex." She quickly explained. The General nodded his agreement and wrote something down off screen before turning back to the assembled group.

" _Agreed. Now there's also the matter of their site in Seattle that relates to Isley. We can't have them gaining an upper hand on us so I'll need that threat neutralized as well."_

"I agree to Sir, but we can't be in two places at once. Which one do we go after first?" Alex asked.

" _Both need to be dealt with sooner rather than later._ _That's why I'm splitting you up. Gordon and Quinzel will handle the charity event in National City with Watcher One-Five. You and Isley will fly to Washington and conduct site exploitation and reduction. I'm more than confident that Batman and Robin can hold the fort back in Gotham, especially since we know the New Era's trying to lure them out. Questions?"_

Alex looked around the room to see that everyone was waiting silently. "Nothing Sir."

" _Then gear up, you leave before the day is over…"_

 **…**

The sun was setting as Barbara threw her bag onto the Black Hawk. Alex and Ivy had already left for their flight to Washington an hour ago and Harley was grabbing the rest of her stuff from the SUV while Captain Thomas and his crew prepped their bird. The wind started to pick up and Barbara pulled the hood on her jacket up, her suit safely packed away in her bag for the flight. This was supposed to be a secret mission and having Batgirl running around National City would draw to many questions, so for the time being she was simply Barbara Gordon, college student on vacation with her friend Harleen.

Although her assignment was secret Barbara also didn't want National Cities defender, Supergirl, or Kara Zor-El as Barbara knew her, to be caught off guard if a firefight suddenly broke out in the middle of a shopping center so she'd made the courtesy call to inform her friend of the assumed threat. Kara had been happy to hear from Barbara and was thankful for the heads up, saying that she'd like to meet with her and Harley a few days before the event to catch up and help if she could. Barbara had happily agreed and promised to meet her once they landed.

After waiting for some time Harley finally showed up, tossing her bag onboard and climbing into the seat next to Barbara and smiling at her. Barbara returned the smile and nodded at the other woman. She had surprised to see that Harley had done away with her long hair, but guessed that she was seizing the opportunity to really reinvent herself. Wearing a black leather jacket over a tank top paired with dark colored jeans and combat boots really worked for the blonde, Barbara thought.

Harley bent over to grab something out of her bag and Barbara noticed she had the same diamond pattern that used to adorn her old jester costume tattooed on her lower back and Barbara wondered why Harley had kept them. She wasn't affiliated with Joker anymore so there was no reason to not have them removed, unless she was keeping them as a reminder of how she had fallen. In the end it was irrelevant really, Barbara knew that Harley was committed to their side now.

As Harley came back up with a handful of snacks in hand, Captain Thomas and the rest of the crew finished their pre-flight checks and began to warm up the bird, as CWO3 Medina hopped up in the seat next to the minigun as the rotors began to warm up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. Federal regulations state this is a non-smoking Black Hawk helicopter, for our Gotham frequent fliers you'll be earning a hundred credits tonight, and as always sick bags are located directly under the seats. We know you have many choices when flying and we thank you again for choosing Marine Corps Aviation!" Captain Thomas announced cheerily over the radio as the helicopter rose from the ground and music began playing.

Barbara and Harley smiled happily as the bird took off and flew into the night, leaving Gotham behind and heading towards their next adventure…

 **…Mission Complete…**


	38. Chapter 38

Barbara sat on a bench by herself at a park in National City. They had a few days before Lena's event so Barbara had made plans to meet with her friend Kara and catch up. She watched as Harley skipped her way past pedestrians towards a hotdog stand as they waited for Kara to meet them. It was just the two of them, Watcher 1-5's crew were busy setting up a listening and observation post for Barbara to use during the operation. As she waited Barbara scrolled through the news feed on her phone for any indication of how Alex and Ivy were doing in Seattle but there was a significant lack of reported gunfights or explosions so everything must be going well on their end so far.

Thoroughly bored, Barbara sighed and put down her phone and settled on watching Harley interact with people some more. Harley was happily chatting with the hotdog vendor. She must have made some sort of joke as the people around her started laughing. The woman was so silly sometimes that Barbara had to remind herself that Harley was around five years her senior.

Barbara was about to call Harley back over when she felt someone tap on her shoulder. "Hey Barbara! Long time no see!" Barbara turned around to find Kara had finally shown up.

Barbara stood up and embraced her friend in hug. "Kara! it's been to long, how have you been?" She asked after releasing her.

"Oh, you know the usual. No shortage of creeps trying to make life difficult. Same with you I'm guessing?"

Barbara shook her head and grinned. "Try helping the military fight a domestic terrorist group." She proudly boasted.

"Wow, look at you! Moving up in the world!" Kara smiled.

"Yeah, got the scars to prove it too." Barbara brushed her hair aside to show Kara the scar on her neck from where she'd been shot.

Kara gasped as she studied the scar with wide eyes. "Geez, that looks nasty. Did it hurt?" She asked, tracing her fingers along the thin white line that ran across the right side of her friends neck.

"Yeah, I passed out a few times from blood loss but thankfully my Sergeant patched me up and got me help shortly afterwards." Barbara assured her, though Kara raised her brow at the last part.

"Your Sergeant?"

"Right, I forgot to mention that I was named an honorary U.S. Marine after rescuing a convoy from Deadshot, I was even awarded a medal by the Secretary of the Navy. Your looking at Private First Class Gordon." She said proudly. "My friend Alex Westbrook, he's the Sergeant originally tasked with cleaning up Gotham. We crossed paths and became friends shortly afterwards. Been working together ever since." Barbara explained.

"Wow, that is crazy Barbara." Kara replied, shaking her head in disbelief.

Barbara just chuckled at her bewildered friend. "You think that's crazy wait tell you meet my friend..." She told her just as Harley skipped her way back over, a box of hotdogs in hand.

"Oh my god, Babs you gotta try these their amazing!" Harley said with her mouth full as she reached the two.

Kara turned back to Barbara with a questioning look. "Is that..?"

"Kara meet Harleen Quinzel. Harleen, Kara." Barbara introduced.

Harley set her food down and extended her hand to Kara with a smile. "Please call me Harley, everyone does."

Kara somewhat hesitantly shook her hand and smiled nervously. "Right, I'm Kara. Nice to meet you...Harley..." She replied awkwardly.

Harley frowned and looked a bit hurt at Kara's reaction to her. "Sorry, should have known It'd be hard to meet new people with my history." She said, her head drooping sadly.

Seeing how quickly her mood had changed from bubbly and happy to sad made Kara feel bad, she didn't like making people feel sad, even if they were former criminals. "I'm sorry Harley, that was rude." She quickly apologized. "I know your trying to make up for everything you've done, and I've heard you've been doing a lot of good. Maybe we could be friends if you'd like?" Kara offered with a smile.

Harley picked her head up and smiled at the offer. "Thanks, I'd like that..."

Barbara smiled as her two friends came to an understanding. She laughed to herself when she noticed how similar they looked with their fair skin, blue eyes, and short blonde hair they could almost pass as twins she thought.

"...So then Babs, Alex, and my best friend Ivy raided Jokers hideout and rescued me, but Joker ended up shooting me here, then Alex shot him back and we all escaped just before the place blew sky high!" Harley explained to her new friend, showing her the scar above her left breast that Kara grimaced at before looking back up at her.

"Poison Ivy's a good guy now too? Barbara you've been having all this fun and didn't even invite me? I'm hurt!" Kara turned to the redhead and smacked her shoulder playfully.

Barbara laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Cause you got enough problems on your hands as is, remember?"

"Doesn't mean I couldn't use a little girl time with my best pal." Kara argued back.

""Yeah Babs! I can't believe you held out that Supergirl is your best friend!" Harley exclaimed.

Barbara sighed and rubbed her brow. "I'm gonna go get one of those hotdogs, you two wait here, alright." She said before walking off towards the vendor.

"Grab one for me too please!" Kara called after her as she left.

"Ain't she great." Harley asked.

"Yeah..." Kara sighed, her gaze still fixated on Barbara. Harley noticed Kara's attention on Barbara, or more accurately, her rear, and giggled.

"Oh my god, you like her don't you?!" She exclaimed, catching Kara off guard.

"What!? Of course I do she's my best friend!" Kara quickly replied.

"No, I mean you like like her." Harley persisted.

Kara quickly shushed her and brought her close. "I don't know what your talking about..." She insisted.

"So you weren't just staring at her ass?"

"No!... I was just..." Kara stammered, her cheeks growing more red as Harley just smiled at her.

"It's ok, I understand. I had crush on Ivy for a while, and I'm dating my best friend Alex now." Harley told her.

Kara took a breath to calm herself and looked towards Barbara to make sure she was out of ear shot before turning back to Harley. "Alright, yeah I like like her, but she doesn't know. She can't know, we've been friends a long time and I don't want a stupid crush to ruin our friendship." She whispered.

"Well Alex told me about his feelings and that turned out great for both of us. Same thing could happen with you, but you gotta try to find out. Besides, Bab's has been through the wringer helping the military, she could definitely use some romance in her life right now." Harley assured her.

Kara pondered Harley's words before looking back at Barbara again. She didn't know when she'd developed feelings for her, but after every time they've teamed up and Barbara left for Gotham Kara would get a noticeable pang in her heart. "You really think she'd go for me? Does she even like women?"

"Does it matter? So long as you make her happy who cares what you got down there?" Harley answered. "Look, we've gotta whole week of working together, plenty of time to hang out and get a feel for her as more than friends and I'll help you out if you want. But you gotta be the one to take the risk."

Kara seemed to brighten up and smiled back at Harley. "Yeah, your right. I should just go and tell her how I feel!" She said before walking to where Barbara was getting food.

Harley quickly grabbed Kara's shoulders and stopped her. "Whoa! Slow down there big girl, slow and steady wins the race, remember? Your definitely gonna scare her off if you go in guns blazing! Maybe take her out for dinner or something before declaring your undying love." She quickly advised.

"Yeah, that'd probably work better wouldn't it? How about tomorrow night? I'll have something planned by then. You'll be there right? Don't think I can do this on my own..." Kara asked as she rubbed her hands together nervously.

"Sure, just don't expect me to do all the work. Bab's is your crush not mine." Harley answered as Barbara walked up.

"What about Bab's now?" She asked, handing Kara her hotdog and wondering what they were talking about.

"Nothing, Kara was just about to ask you something." Harley answered, pushing the other blonde forward.

"I was? I mean yeah I was! I figured that since we haven't seen each other in a while I could take you, I mean the both of you, out to dinner tomorrow night? There's this really great restaurant downtown that has the best steak and we could go and eat there, the three of us! Not just you and me, unless you want it to be! Harley probably has better things to do, right Harley?" Kara asked nervously as Barbara looked at her confused as to why she was acting weird.

Harley sighed and smacked her forehead. "She'll be there, we'll both be there. Just send her the details." She answered for Barbara who was still bewildered by her friends sudden awkwardness.

"Right, I'll do that. I should probably get going, lots of things to do and you guys probably still gotta get settled in. I'll talk to you later Barbara, nice meeting you Harley!" Kara stammered before making a beeline towards the parking lot.

Barbara shook her head and looked at Harley. "That was weird, she's never been that awkward before..."

Harley sat down on the bench and sighed. "Oh if you only knew the half of it..."

 **...**

After leaving the park Harley took Barbara shopping for something to wear to their dinner with Kara tomorrow night.

"I still don't see why we have to get dressed up for this, it's just dinner." Barbara sighed as she tried on another dress for Harley to look at.

"Well you haven't seen Kara in a while, don't you wanna look nice for her?" Harley reasoned.

"I guess, but doesn't this seem a bit much?" She asked as she emerged from the dressing room in a black dress that hugged her figure and showed off her curves.

"Nope, and I think that's the one." Harley told her.

Barbara looked down at the price tag and gasped. "Uh, you sure you can afford this?"

Harley waved the question off. "Don't worry about, I got plenty saved up, it's my treat to you. Now change outta that and help me find one..."

Later that night the two walked down the hallway of the hotel they were staying in when they bumped into Lieutenant Sanders.

"And where have you two been all day?" She asked, eyeing the bags in their hands.

"Oh, we just met with one of Barbara's friends. Nothing to worry about Ma'am." Harley quickly explained.

The Lieutenant raised her brow but chose to let it go. "Just remember that we're here on business. You can hangout with your friends but be on call if we need you, alright? Gordon, we got your LP/OP set up on the roof. Go and take a look at it later, make sure it's good."

"Will do, thank you Ma'am."

"Don't mention it, have a good night you two." The Lieutenant said as she continued on her way.

Barbara dropped her bag of in her and Harley's room before heading up to the roof. The Black Hawk was parked on the hotels landing pad and several monitors and antennas had been set up inside the troop compartment for her to use. She'd be filling in General Anderson's role and acting as a supervisor for Harley and Kara, walking them through everything once the mission began.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be on the ground with them, but someone had to do the job and she was the most qualified. Not that the officers with her weren't smart enough for it, they had to be smart in order to be pilots, but that's all they were assigned to do for her, be pilots. The one upside was that since she would be located in the helicopter all she had to do was take down a few antennas and Captain Thomas could fly her to the AO if needed.

Barbara was a bit nervous about running the show this time around, Harley, Kara, and Captain Thomas crew's lives were in her hands, but she was confident nonetheless. The training she'd received from her Father, Bruce, and the Marine Corps gave her a all the skills she'd need to run her mission.

But while that worried her Barbara was also concerned about Kara's sudden awkwardness and Harley's insistence about getting dressed up for her. She knew they were up to something regarding her but exactly what she couldn't figure out, but she guessed she'd find out tomorrow night what the deal was. Barbara took one last look over her setup in the helicopter before heading back down to she and Harley's room for the night, anxiously waiting to see what tomorrow would bring...

 **...**

The next day Barbara and Harley met up with Kara early the next day to scout out the shopping center Lena's event, a charity concert, would be taking place at. The mall was relatively new, having been built by LexCorps last year the building was outfitted with a state of the art automated security system to supplement the human security detail.

"Wow would you look at the size of this place!" Harley exclaimed as she marveled at the enormous structure and all it's stores and vendors.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing isn't it?" Kara agreed.

Barbara was relieved to see her friend was acting more herself today but she could swear that Kara's gaze lingered on her longer than usual but just chalked it up to her imagination.

They passed by the large indoor plaza the concert would be taking place at and Barbara mentally noted all the possible avenues of approach.

"This is too open, Lena's easy sniper bait here, and that skylight above us would allow enemy troops a quick way to deploy large numbers." She voiced out loud.

"Assuming there is a threat, we're here to keep an eye on things and intervene if necessary. Besides automated security can handle a few armed gun men." Kara replied.

Barbara snapped her fingers at Kara's remark. "What if they comprised the automated security!? There's not that many security personnel, it'll give them the perfect window to attack!" She exclaimed.

Kara frowned at the thought but Barbara did have a point. "They'd have to compromise the servers and only LexCorps security personnel have access." She informed the others.

"Yeah but from what Ivy said it sounds like they've been planning this for months, plenty of time for one or more creeps to infiltrate the security detail. It'll only take one to shut down the servers." Barbara explained.

"Well why don't we find where these servers are and we can make sure their not messed with on game day?" Harley suggested to them.

"Good idea Harl's, Kara?" Barbara turned to her friend but she was already making use of her X-ray vision to locate the hub.

"There." She replied, pointing towards a staff exit on the floor below them. "It's through there, past a security checkpoint but it looks like there's a maintenance lift leading to the section they're remodeling. Cut through the construction and you should be able to bypass the checkpoint." She told them.

"Maintance lift, got it." Harley replied as she surveyed the floor for the best route. "Think that about does it for the recon Bab's. What'd ya say we blow this joint, gotta lot of prepping to do for tonight." She said with a wink to Kara who blushed in response.

Barbara definitely knew they were up to something now but she decided to play along and pretend she didn't notice. Hopefully Harley would slip up and spill the beans between then and now.

"Sure Harley, let's go. See you tonight Kara!" She said, waving goodbye to her friend as she and Harley left.

 **...**

"Alright you two, remember to be home by midnight and no boys!" Captain Thomas told Barbara and Harley as he dropped them off in front of the restaurant Kara had told them to meet at.

Harley turned back to the car and grinned. "Oh, no need to worry about that Sir, trust me. Thanks again for the ride!" She said with a wave as the Captain drove off before leading Barbara inside the building.

They spotted Kara sitting by herself at a table in the back dressed in a blue dress that matched her eyes. As they made their way over Harley scouted out the other patrons for anyone suspicious, determined to not have this evening go like the last one but everyone seemed to be minding their business.

"Hey you guys, glad you could make it!" Kara greeted as the two met her. "Wow! Barbara you look beautiful!" She gushed as she took in the sight of her crush and Harley had to hold back a giggle as she saw Barbara blush a bit at the compliment.

"Thanks Kara, you look great too." Barbara returned the compliment as she sat across from her.

"Told you she'd like it Bab's." Harley said as she sat next to Barbara.

"I should take you out shopping with me sometime Harley, you got a good eye." Kara replied with a smile.

"Good eye ain't all I got Blondie..." Harley said with a wink.

Kara blushed and pretended to be interested in the menu. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean." She replied before waving the waiter over.

As the evening went on Harley watched as Kara tried her best to flirt with Barbara but grimaced as she came across as more awkward than anything despite Harley's efforts to provide her with opportunities to make her feelings known to Barbara. After another botched attempt at flirting Harley downed another glass of wine before sighing and ordering another one. Barbara was picking up on Kara's awkwardness but how she remained oblivious to the meaning behind her friends words was a mystery.

For her part, Barbara had been focusing more on figuring out what her friends were up to, but Kara just seemed to be tripping over her words and blushing constantly when Barbara caught her staring while Harley seemed to be focused more and more on her wine as the evening went on.

Kara had just finished apologizing for another awkward sentence when Barbara cut her off. "Don't take this the wrong way Kara but you've been acting kinda weird lately. Is everything alright?" She asked, concerned that something was wrong with her friend.

"Yeah, of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be!?" She stammered out. "I think I need another drink..." Kara said quietly before getting up and heading over to the bar.

Barbara watched her go before looking over at Harley to find her drinking straight from the wine bottle.

"I don't know what they put in this stuff but it's amazing! Ya wanna try some Babsy?" Harley slurred, her accent returning in her drunken state as she held the bottle out to her.

"Uh, no thanks Harl. I'm gonna go see what's up with Kara." Barbara replied.

"Blondie's fine, jus' dealin with a small crush is all." Harley drunkenly blurted out, catching Barbara's attention.

"Oh, that explains the awkwardness. If she wanted my help she should've just asked." Barbara said as Harley took another swig.

Harley laughed at her comment and smiled. "Yeah but she already asked me fer help! An I'm doin the best I can but man she sucks at flirting!" She exclaimed.

Barbara raised her brow in surprise as she processed her friends words and started to put everything together. "Harley...who is Kara's crush?"

Harley looked at her and giggled. "Blondie's got a thing fer Bab's, but she can't know! Barbara can't know..." She giggled, having drunk to the point of being oblivious to who she was talking to.

Barbara sat there in stunned silence, taking in what Harley had just told her and glancing over to where Kara stood at the bar. All of a sudden everything made sense, Kara's awkwardness, her lingering gaze. She was a fool for not recognizing her friends affection for her earlier. Barbara couldn't have possibly imagined that her best friend would grow romantic feeling's towards her, she liked Kara, she really did and strangely she found that she wasn't immediately opposed to the idea.

Barbara hadn't had a serious relationship since she'd broken up with Dick a few years back and nowadays she often felt the need for comfort her friends couldn't provide her. She'd never been attracted to other women but now, knowing that Kara had feelings for her, she found herself confused. Kara was beautiful, smart, strong, reliable, and Barbara did have to admit she found her cute when she was embarrassed, but she'd never thought about her in that way before. Barbara had to figure this out before it blew up in her face.

She found Kara at the bar just as the blonde finished downing a shot of whiskey to help calm her nerves and Barbara suddenly wished she had one herself. "Hey Kara, can I talk to you outside?" Barbara asked, gesturing towards the balcony.

"Uh, sure thing Barbara. I actually needed to talk to you..." Kara replied as she set her glass down and allowed Barbara to lead her outside.

Out on the Balcony Barbara leaned against the railing and watched the city as she gathered her thoughts. She saw Kara join her out of the corner of her eye and looked over to see her staring at the railing.

"Kara I..." Barbara began but was suddenly cut off when Kara leaned over and kissed her softly. Barbara's eyes were wide open in surprise, had this been anyone else she would have already punched them, but this was Kara and as her brain recognized what was happening she relaxed into the kiss just as Kara pulled away and blushed furiously.

"I'm sorry Barbara, I don't know what came over me..." Kara quickly apologized.

Barbara took Kara's hand in hers and smiled. "It's ok Kara, Harley told me everything." She replied.

"Oh...I feel like such a fool. I should've just told you, but I was so worried that you'd hate me..."

"Nothing could ever make me hate you Kara." Barbara assured her.

Kara looked like she was about to cry as she smiled back at Barbara. "I should have known. So, how do you feel...about us as more than friends?" Kara asked shyly.

"I...I can't answer that right now Kara. I like you, maybe as more than friends, but there's so much going on...I don't think I have time for a relationship." Barbara explained.

She wished she could give a more concrete answer, but truth was she really didn't know. Barbara liked the appeal of having a relationship again but she had never expected the opportunity to come from her best friend. She liked Kara well enough but her feelings about her were conflicted now. On one hand they worked well together as friends but on the other she had no doubt that Kara could make her happy romantically if Barbara let her. It was all to confusing and she needed more time to process her thoughts and feelings.

Kara's face fell and she sighed sadly. "Oh...I understand. Maybe when your done doing whatever it is your doing we can try again?" She asked hopefully.

Barbara looked into Kara's eyes and smiled. "I think I'd like that..."

 **...Mission Complete...**


	39. Chapter 39

Barbara, Harley, Kara, and the crew of Watcher 1-5 gathered around the screen in Barbara's hotel room in a conference with General Anderson before beginning their mission.

 _"Our boys in Intelligence found some information regarding Nelson's Lieutenant. She served as a Military Police officer but was dishonorably discharged after being convicted of mistreating enemy POW's."_ The General explained as his image was replaced by a mugshot and discharge papers of the woman Harley remembered ruining her date.

 _"She's been busy in Gotham as of late, we captured this security footage from the docks in Gotham last week..."_

The screen transitioned to show New Era soldiers surrounding a beaten up Jervis Tetch, otherwise known as the Mad Hatter, out on the docks. Jervis was attempting to stand when his right knee was suddenly blown out by a shotgun blast as the Lieutenant walked on screen holding her shotgun. The footage lacked audio but everyone could tell that Jervis was pleading with the woman but she proceeded to shoot out his other knee, spraying blood and bone over the wooden planks. Jervis grimaced in agony before the Lieutenant pumped her shotgun again and blew his head apart with a slug round.

Barbara grimaced at the display of cruelty. Criminal or not Jervis didn't deserve to be murdered in such a horrific way.

 _"As you can see she lacks any sort of empathy."_ General Anderson said as he appeared on screen again. _"I'm placing a kill order on her, if you have the shot take it."_

"It'll be my pleasure..." Harley replied coldly. She held a deep hatred for the Lieutenant for ruining her date with Alex which resulted in his becoming injured and felt she should return the favor.

The General nodded his head in her direction understandingly. _"Don't let it get personal Quinzel. Sweep the area, protect Miss Luthor, and eliminate the HVT if possible, understood?"_ He asked to Harley more than anyone.

"Perfectly..."

 _"Outstanding. Gordon this is your show, ensure the mission is accomplished. Other than that I have nothing for you. Ladies, Gentlemen, good luck..."_

 **...**

Harley checked the .45 pistol Alex had given her to make sure it was loaded before tucking it into the back of her pants as Kara drove them to the shopping center. They arrived a few minutes early to beat the crowds and split up once they reached the indoor plaza, Kara remaining at the event to keep her eyes on Lena while Harley made her way to the elevator that would take her to the construction zone on the floor below.

As she pressed the button to take her down the first group playing at the concert begin playing and Harley hoped the noise would cover up the sound of her gun if she fired it.

The elevator stopped and as she exited the lift she bumped straight into two Lexcorps security guards.

"Hey you shouldn't be here!" The first guard told her.

"Sorry fellas, must've hit the wrong button..." She said as she backed into the elevator, but the guards reached for their rifles as she did.

In the time it took them to level their rifles Harley had already drawn her pistol and fired two rounds into the first guards chest and a third into the others head, dropping them both.

 _"Harley are you alright!? I heard gunfire!"_ Kara urgently asked over the radio, her super hearing enabling her to pick up on the reports over the loud music.

Harley knelt down next to the guards as she replied. "I'm fine Blondie, but I think Bab's was right about security being compromised." She warned as she picked up the first guards suppressed assault rifle and ammo.

 _"Alright, I'll keep an eye out."_ Came Kara's short reply.

Harley shouldered her new weapon and moved through the construction, fighting through a few more teams of disguised soldiers along the way. They may have been well trained but no amount of training could prepare one for Harley's unorthodox tactics as she jumped, skipped, and danced across the battlefield, taking potshots with surprising accuracy and dropping the soldiers one by one until it was clear for her to move one. As she fought her way to security Harley noticed that the soldiers were messing with the support columns and discovered that they were planting C4 concrete charges along the columns above the plaza.

She may not have been a trained Combat Engineer like Alex was but she knew enough about explosives to know that these charges would collapse the floor above her and potentially kill or injure a lot of people. "Kara, their planting explosives! You need to get Lena out of there now!" She shouted into her comm.

 _"On it! Hang on I see her!"_ Kara replied.

Harley finished moving through construction and reached the security hub, killing a handful of more soldiers before coming up on the automated security CPU.

She looked over the rows of computers before finding central control. "Alright Bab's what do I do here?" She asked as she clicked through several menus.

 _"There should be a flash drive in your pocket, plug it into the computer and I can do the rest."_ Barbara answered calmly.

Harley felt around for the drive, finding it in her pocket like Barbara said she would and plugged it into the computer. She watched as multiple codes flashed across the screen before the rows of servers lit up.

 _"Alright I'm in! Get back to Kara and secure Lena!"_ Barbara said urgently.

Harley quickly back tracked to the elevator, dropping the rifle she grabbed before taking the lift back up. "Kara, where are you!?" She shouted over the music as the doors opened on the floor above.

 _"We're on the dance floor!"_ Kara answered bluntly, annoyed at something.

Harley shoved her way through the mass of people and found Kara arguing with a women she assumed to be Lena. Harley came up behind Lena and grabbed her arm. "We have to go Lena, terrorists are coming for you now!" She warned as Lena spun around in surprise.

"Terrorists!? What the hell are you two talking about, there's no terrorists here!" She replied angrily just as a gunshot echoed throughout the room, silencing the music.

Kara quickly stepped in front of Lena as the Lieutenant walked onto the stage flanked by several disguised soldiers who waved their rifles at the crowd. "Lena Luthor!" She shouted, her shotgun pointed towards the roof. When Lena didn't respond she quickly lowered it and shot the nearest civilian. "I won't ask again..." She threatened.

Harley and Kara tried to restrain Lena but she managed to slip out of their grasp, allowing the soldiers to quickly snatch her up. "Open fire!" The Lieutenant shouted before her soldiers started firing into the now panicked crowd. The civilians ran in terror as automatic fire mowed down those unfortunate enough to not get away in time.

Kara quickly grabbed Harley and rushed behind a kiosk for cover. Harley drew her pistol and ground her teeth in anger. "I'm gonna kill that sick fuck..." She spat angrily.

Before Harley had a chance to break cover the charges on the floor below detonated, collapsing the floor and obscuring the Lieutenant and her soldiers as they ran off with Lena. As the ringing in Harley's ears subsided she heard the sound of helicopter rotors and hoped that it was Watcher 1-5 overhead but to her and Kara's dismay it was an MI-8 Hip deploying more New Era soldiers into the building through the skylight.

Once the soldiers hit the deck they began firing at anything that moved, not caring if they shot actual Lexcorps security officers or civilians. Harley and Kara quickly ran to more suitable cover before Harley radioed Barbara. "Bab's were you at with that automated security!?" She shouted urgently.

 _"Hang on a sec! Overriding parameters, ID, monitor, and protect... Automated security is set to respond to a terrorist attack, drones will engage any unidentified armed personnel..."_ Barbara replied as small quad-rotor drones with mounted 9mm sub-machine guns deployed from hidden doors and started engaging the hostile soldiers.

Harley grinned in delight as the drones made short work of a group of soldiers before flying to another squad. "Not bad Bab's, not bad!" She praised.

With the immediate area clear Harley and Kara took off in the direction they saw the soldiers drag Lena off to.

As they ran a New Era soldier popped out of an alcove and fired a burst into Kara's chest, but was surprised when the rounds had no effect as they crumpled against her chest and fell to the floor, the only sign she'd been shot being the new holes in her shirt. The soldier, realizing who he'd just shot, went for his radio to warn his comrades but Harley quickly darted forward and grabbed his rifle, smashing the buttstock into his face before hooking her leg behind his knee and tripping him. Once he hit the floor Harley raised her right knee and drove the heel of her boot into his face with all the strength she could muster, crushing his skull with a sickening "CRACK!"

Kara watched the scene unfold before her in shock, her eyes darting between Harley and the soldier she'd just killed. "What did you do!?" She cried as Harley relieved the body of his weapon and ammo.

"He tried to kill you, so I killed him." Harley replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm bulletproof! I could have...you didn't have to!" Kara shot back.

"News flash Blondie, Marine Corps don't follow that no killin rule you heroes all do and if you hadn't noticed this place just turned into a damn war zone!" Harley gestured towards the chaos around them to prove her point.

Kara looked around and saw the craters from the explosions, fires, spent shell casings, and the broken, mangled bodies of civilians the New Era soldiers had murdered for no reason. All around her Kara could hear the terrifying sounds of battle, gunfire, explosions, shouts and screams of agony made worse due to her enhanced hearing. She suddenly felt sick and took a few steps backwards as she took it all in.

Harley slung her new rifle and shook Kara to snap her out of her daze. "Get your shit together Blondie, these assholes are still out there killin people and we still gotta save Lena!" She urgently reminded her.

"Ok, I'm fine. Your right, we still have a job to do." Kara replied after regaining her composure.

Harley smiled softly and nodded. "Come on, these asshats ain't gonna kill themselves!" She said as she charged her rifle and ran into the fray.

"Wait, what?" Kara shouted after her as she ran after Harley.

 **...**

Back at the Blackhawk, Barbara monitored Harley and Kara's progress while simultaneously sending commands to the small fleet of drones. She made use of the security cameras to track the Lieutenant's movements as she and her soldiers dragged Lena off, and sent a small detachment of drones to harass them and hopefully stall them long enough for Harley and Kara to catch up.

Unfortunately they were being held up in a firefight by a rather large group of soldiers. Barbara watched on the screen as Harley ducked behind an overturned kiosk and reloaded her scavenged Galil before firing back while Kara flew around to distract the soldiers. But the more they fought the further the Lieutenant and Lena got from them, Barbara had to intervene.

She looked over her monitor and called for Captain Thomas. "Captain, Harley and Kara are pinned down and the HVI is still in enemy hands, can you get us over there to help out?" She asked.

The Captain looked back from his seat and nodded before turning to CWO3 Medina. "Medina, get those antennas down and load the minigun, we're getting some action!" He ordered.

"Roger that Sir!" Medina replied as he got to work.

Barbara looked down at herself and checked over her new batsuit. After her adventures in the sewers months ago the armor plates had been cracked by rifle fire and she had yet to replace them until General Anderson surprised her with a new suit to replace her old one. Instead of the near skintight armored suit she wore before, her new one consisted of dark grey combat boots, cargo pants, shooting gloves, and a jacket all lined with light weight ballistic weave rated for .45 pistol rounds. While her new suit lacked the armor of her old one it was lighter and provided her with more agility which was a good trade off in her opinion and was more functional with the added storage on her pants and jacket and her cape was also now quick detachable in case she became snagged on anything. The bat symbol was still emblazoned on her chest, being interrupted up the middle by the jackets zipper, but a small Eagle, Globe, and Anchor was stitched into the center of the symbol to signify her affiliation with the Marine Corps and a single black chevron was pinned on both sides of the collar to display her rank.

As CWO3 Medina climbed aboard and manned the minigun, Barbara grabbed her cowl and slipped it onto her head. The rotors began to spin up and in no time the Blackhawk was airborne and heading towards the now smoking shopping center.

Barbara radioed down to Harley and Kara that she was on her way when the helicopter stopped and hovered above the outdoor plaza where NCPD gathered the fleeing civilians and attempted to gain entry into the building only to be met with heavy resistance from the New Era soldiers.

As the helicopter began to descend Barbara stepped closer to the edge of the cabin to jump out when Medina quickly called back to the Captain.

"RPG your side!" He shouted as a soldier with an RPG fired at the helicopter.

"Hang on!" Captain Thomas warned as he jerked the controls to the side, the rocket narrowly missing the cockpit. While the helicopter was fine Barbara had been unprepared for the sudden movement and was thrown from the cabin as the helicopter avoided the rocket.

She was still at least fifty feet up when she fell and she screamed in panic as the ground rapidly approached. Barbara shut her eyes and prepared herself for the inevitable splat but instead of hard concrete she landed in the plazas fountain. She quickly broke the surface and gasped for air as the helicopter hovered above, minigun firing at the soldier that had shot at it.

 _"Echo One Quebec this is Watcher One-Five, we have a man fallen. Break contact and proceed to our coordinates for CASEVAC, over."_ She heard the Captain order the radio.

 _"Fallen, how the hell? Never mind we're on our way."_ Came Harley's reply.

Barbara shook her head to get the water out of her ears before speaking into her radio. "Stay where you are, I'm fine!" She quickly shouted. "Harley, I'm making my way to you guys!"

 _"We're in the food court, second floor!"_ Harley informed her.

 _"We'll cover you movement. Be advised we cannot cover you once your inside the building."_ Captain Thomas warned her. _"We'll maintain orbit around the building and do what we can to support local PD. Good luck."_

With that Barbara took off for the doors, running from cover to cover and avoiding hostile fire as Watcher 1-5's minigun roared, sending hundreds of spent shell casings raining down onto the concrete below. Once inside Barbara realized the situation was worse than she had thought, New Era soldiers were everywhere despite the drones flying around and harassing them.

Barbara heard an explosion further in and assumed that she'd find Harley and Kara there. As she made her way over she stumbled across a group of soldiers chasing after civilians on the floor below her. Not willing to leave the civilians she jumped the railing and landed on the first soldier, knocking him out as her feet crashed into him. Barbara recovered and grabbed the second soldiers rifle barrel and yanked him forward, crashing his face into her elbow. As the second soldier crumpled Barbara held onto his rifle and swung it's buttstock into the side of the last soldiers head, incapacitating him.

The civilians quickly thanked her before running off to safety. Barbara held on to the rifle she grabbed, discarding the magazine and ejecting the chambered round. She didn't like shooting guns, but they made great expedient melee weapons when empty.

Barbara didn't hang around much longer before continuing to make her way to her friends. As she ran up an escalator into the food court she found herself face to face with a larger group of soldiers. The soldiers raised their rifles just as a red beam shot through their weapons, rendering them useless. Both Barbara and the soldiers looked to where the beam had come from to find Kara hovering in front of them smirking.

"Fuck this!" The soldiers panicked before running away, knowing they had no chance of fighting both Batgirl and Supergirl unarmed.

Kara laughed as the soldiers retreated before landing next to Barbara. "Nice of you to join us, why are you all wet?"

"I fell fifty feet from a helicopter and landed in a fountain." Barbara grumbled before taking in her friends tattered clothes. "What's with rags?"

Kara looked down at her trashed clothing and sighed. "I was the distraction..."

"And a great one, thanks again Blondie. About time you got here Bab's." Harley interrupted as she walked over, rifle in hand.

"Well it looked like you two were having such a good time I figured I had to join in."

"Oh, is that a euphemism? Sorry Bab's, much as I like the idea of the three of us I'm already taken. You two just gotta settle for yourselves." Harley smirked as Barbara's face turned the color of her hair as Kara laughed, though her face was also a bit red.

"Damn it Harley, you know I didn't mean it like that!" Barbara shot back, annoyed at her own embarrassment.

"Your right I'm sorry, I couldn't help it you two are just so cute when your embarrassed!" Harley apologized as she tried to quit laughing.

Barbara was about to retort when a bullet whizzed past her head and crumpled against Kara's chest. "Damn it, how many more times am I going to get shot today?" Kara complained as Harley and Barbara dove for cover while she jumped forward and pummeled the soldiers that had tried to ambush them.

"Geez Bab's, your girlfriends got one helluva punch." Harley commented as she and Barbara watched Kara punch a soldier across the room were he crashed into the wall behind them.

Barbara rubbed her forehead and sighed. "She's not my girlfriend Harley..."

"Oh, I thought you guys really hit it off the other night..." Harley said with a frown. She vaguely remembered seeing Kara kiss Barbara and them holding hands afterwards but she was also really drunk and her memory of that night wasn't exactly clear. "I know that this isn't exactly the best time for this conversation but I really think Kara could be good for you, especially with all this shit going on you could use the distraction."

"Noted, but we can talk about my love life when we're not being shot at!" Barbara snapped, putting an end to the conversation. She'd still hadn't fully processed her feelings towards Kara yet but Harley did raise some good points about the benefits of starting a relationship, but the middle of a terrorist attack wasn't the time to be thinking of these things.

They waited for Kara to finish beating up the soldiers before rejoining her. "Ah, that was kinda therapeutic." Kara smiled as she held the last soldier by his flak and threw him through a storefront.

"Glad your enjoying yourself but we do have a job to do." Barbara reminded her.

"Right, sorry. One sec." Kara apologized. She then made use of her X-ray vision to locate Lena, locating her on the top level of the outdoor parking garage surrounded by soldiers as a helicopter flew in. "Crap, that mad woman has Lena on the parking garage and there's a helicopter coming!" She informed her friends.

"Not if we have anything to say about it, let's go!" Harley shouted as she vaulted over her cover and rushed towards the exit.

Not wanting to let Harley put herself in danger the other two quickly followed, catching up to her outside. When they got outside they could see that the New Era's helicopter was already hovering above the parking garage. Barbara recognized the MI-24 by its NATO designation as a Russian Hind gunship. The craft easily outclassed their Blackhawk in terms of firepower and she hoped Watcher 1-5 was keeping its distance to avoid being shot down.

They still needed to get up there though and save Lena, which meant putting themselves in front of that gunship, but they'd never reach the roof on time by foot.

Kara knew this as she quickly grabbed onto Barbara and Harley before flying up to the roof, dropping the two behind a car as she landed just in time to see Lena being forced into the Hind at gunpoint.

"Better luck next time heroes!" The Lieutenant gloated from the helicopter as it began to gain altitude.

The Hind then fired a barrage of rockets at the three, who dove out of the way just as their cover exploded. Harley rolled behind another car and began firing at the gunship but her rounds bounced harmlessly off the armored fuselage.

Barbara hadn't been so lucky, the blast sent her forward and rolled a car over her legs, pinning her out in the open. She tried her best to worm her way out but the vehicle was too heavy and wouldn't budge.

While Barbara tried to escape Kara launched herself at the Hind, but the craft was more agile than it looked and it quickly veered out of the way. It then turned its nose back towards the roof, firing its machine gun at Harley to force her into cover before it turned its attention towards where Barbara lay pinned.

Barbara looked up to see the gunship facing her and struggled harder to get free from the flipped car when she heard a rocket being fired. She shut her eyes as she pulled, hot tears stinging at her eyes as she realized that rocket would kill her. She didn't want to die, especially now that she had another chance at happiness. In that instant Barbara reflected on everything that had happened since coming to National City and how her best friend had admitted her feelings to her and in that moment she realized she felt the same way about Kara, she was just sad that it had taken her impending demise to realize it. But when the explosion came Barbara only felt the effects of the blast pressure on her. She looked up to see a smoking Kara falling from the sky as the helicopter turned and flew away.

Harley quickly dropped her rifle and ran to Barbara, helping her lift the vehicle off of her. Barbara quickly checked her legs to see that they were fine before rushing to where Kara lay on the ground with Harley behind her. Barbara knew that Kryptonians could take a beating but Kara had just taken a literal rocket to the face for her. Kara's eyes were closed but Barbara could see she was still breathing due to the continuous rise and fall of her chest, now visible thanks to the rocket burning away the remainder of her clothes. Barbara felt her face heat up at seeing Kara mostly nude but forced those feelings aside as she continued to check her over for injuries but as expected Kara was fine.

Kara groaned as she opened her eyes and rubbed her head. "What happened? Where are my clothes!?" She asked, quickly covering herself with her arms as she sat up.

"You just ate a rocket Blondie. The explosion burned away your clothes." Harley explained. "I'll go find you something to cover yourself with." She said before getting up to scavenge through the parked cars.

Kara turned back to Barbara only to be met with a searing kiss. Barbara pulled away, worry written on her face, and Kara noted that she was trying to hold back tears as the redhead punched her. "You idiot, you didn't have to do that!" She cried before hugging her close.

"And let you die? I couldn't do that Barbara, you mean to much to me. You know that." Kara said softly as she returned the embrace.

Barbara let Kara go and looked into her eyes. "I know, and you know what? Almost dying, again, made me realize that I have so much to live for and I want to do it with you Kara." She knew she might be taking this to fast, but she didn't want to wait like Alex had and risk losing Kara like he had with Harley.

Kara looked at Barbara and smiled happily. "You mean?"

"Yes, I want to be with you Kara Zor-El." Barbara answered before leaning forward and kissing Kara, who eagerly reciprocated.

"Uh, am I interrupting something..." Harley asked as she returned with a blanket for Kara. The two broke apart and blushed furiously. Harley quickly tossed the blanket at Kara before turning away. "Glad you guys finally figured yourselves out." Harley smiled over her shoulder.

"Well, coming so close to dying is a good motivator." Barbara replied as she smiled happily at Kara.

"I'll, uh, go wave down our ride. Don't hang around too long, you crazy kids." Harley said as she made her way towards the other end of the roof. She waited for Watcher 1-5 to fly around before waving the bird down. The Blackhawk hovered over the roof, waiting for the tree to climb aboard. "Alright lovebirds, time to go!" Harley shouted at her friends over the noise of the rotors.

Barbara stood and helped Kara up, the two walking towards the helicopter together smiling happily.

 **...**

 _"This wasn't your fault Gordon, we had no way of knowing the lengths they'd go to get their hands on Lena."_ General Anderson told Barbara.

It was the day after the New Era attacked the mall and captured Lena. Barbara had already sent her report to the General and was now debriefing him over video. While she was happy she discovered her feelings for Kara, the fact that she had failed her first mission still weighed on her conscious.

"I know Sir, I just think if we had kept the team together things wouldn't have gone down that way..." Barbara replied solemnly.

 _"Maybe, but that was my decision not yours. You did your best and got your guys out alive, you did good."_

"They still got Lena, they'll use her to get their hands on kryptonite."

 _"I'll get a hold of the League and give them the heads up and we'll get Lena back if possible, but that can wait until we're all back in Gotham."_

"Yes Sir..."

 _"Cheer up Gordon, as I understand it you have plenty of reasons to be enjoying yourself as of late."_ The General smiled warmly.

"Oh God, Harley told you didn't she..." Barbara sighed, her face turning red.

 _"Yes, she was very descriptive in her report...But I am glad you've found someone to be happy with, this line of work is very stressful as I'm sure you know and it's good to have someone to come home too. Just make sure your both ready encase the worst happens."_

"Yeah, I'm not invulnerable like she is..." Barbara muttered to herself. She wasn't worried about Kara getting hurt by conventional means, not after seeing her walk off a rocket, but Barbara was definitely more susceptible to bullets and explosions.

 _"Just enjoy yourself while you can, I have a feeling things are only going to get harder from here. I won't keep you any longer, enjoy the rest of your day."_

"You too Sir." Barbara replied before ending the call. She sat back in her chair and sighed, drumming her fingers across the desk in front of her. She remained that way until she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders.

"I wish you didn't have to go so soon..." Kara said as Barbara leaned her head back to see her.

"Me too, but duty calls. I promise when this is over I'll come back for you."

"Why wait? Gotham isn't that far, I could help more! I'm sure your General and the League would allow it if I asked!" Kara asked excitedly.

Barbara chuckled at her excitement. "That'd be great but don't you think after what happened you'll be needed here?" She reminded her.

Kara shook her head and smiled. "The National Guard deployed this morning, they've been helping the Police and SWAT clean up the mess, I think everything will be fine here."

"Well if you really think so...Yeah, that'd be awesome! I'll call the General back and let him know!" Barbara exclaimed, Kara's excitement rubbing off on her.

"Yes! You guys can go on ahead, I still got some stuff to do but I'll meet you in Gotham soon, promise!" Kara quickly kissed Barbara goodbye and took off to take care of whatever business she had.

Barbara smiled happily to herself, she couldn't remember being this happy in a long time. This trip to National City hadn't gone as she'd planned, and despite their failure yesterday Barbara found she was more excited than worried for the future...

 **...Mission Failed...**


	40. Chapter 40

**Happy Fourth of July! Have fun with all the fireworks, drink some cold ones, shoot some guns (sorry California), enjoy the celebrations!**

* * *

Alex sat across from Ivy in the cargo hold of a C130 in route to an Air Force base in Washington. They hadn't had time to buy tickets for an actual airline but flying on a military plane was cheaper anyways and the privacy of the cargo hold was a welcome bonus. Not that they made much use of it. After Harley had told Alex about her prior relationship with Ivy he had avoided talking to her, save for business related issues.

He had no real reason not to talk to her, Harley had assured him that her thing with Ivy was over, but still he found himself unable to talk with her. It wasn't that he was jealous of her, he wasn't the jealous type, but rather it was some considerations about Ivy's feelings for Harley and the likely hood of his own survival brought on.

It all started as he was kissing Harley goodbye before boarding the plane, for whatever reason it felt like it was the last time he'd see her. He'd had the same gut wrenching feeling as he'd said his goodbye to her before his first deployment, that worry at the back of his mind that he'd just possibly said his last words to her as he ventured into the unknown. And now that feeling was back, and he hated that it gnawed at him, that it made him distant from his peer.

Alex looked up at Ivy to find her reading a gardening magazine. She looked up over the top of her magazine back at him and Alex quickly averted his eyes. Ivy had been picking up on his distant behavior the whole ride and finally decided enough is enough. "Something on your mind Sergeant?" She asked, putting her magazine down.

"No, nothing. Why do you ask?" He replied.

Ivy quirked her brow in response. "I may be old but I'm not stupid, something is clearly bothering you." She pressed.

Alex sighed, knowing she wouldn't let up until he complied. "Harley told me about her kissing you last week and about how you two used to, you know..."

If Ivy was phased by this revelation she didn't show it. "Oh, that... Yes, we used to do _that_ , but I ended that after you two got together. You won't have to worry about any competition from me, so long as you keep treating her right." She explained.

"I'd never hurt her, and if for whatever reason I somehow do you totally have my permission to smack me around twice as much. But that's not what's bothering me, I could care less about her sleeping with you." Alex replied.

"So then what's your issue?" Ivy asked confused.

"You love Harley, right? I mean you wouldn't be doing all this if you didn't." He stated, more to himself than her.

"I took care of Harley whenever she got beat up, I held her when she cried at night, and tried my best to save her from herself. Of course I love her."

"Good, that's good." He muttered to himself.

"Sergeant, your acting weird. What are you getting at?" She asked, hoping that he'd just tell her.

"Listen, I love Harley with all I got, have for a while now, and I want to make sure she's happy no matter what... even if the worst happens."

"Sergeant..."

"No, listen. I've been through a lot in my short twenty five years, survived some shit I really shouldn't have and I'm worried that I'm living on borrowed time, that I won't live to see the end of this stupid mission...and if that happens I need to know that Harley will have someone to look after her..." He said, pleading with her.

"Sergeant..." Ivy was going to console him but he quickly cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it. Just promise me that if I die that you'll take care of Harley for me."

It took Ivy a moment to fully process what he was asking but eventually she met his gaze and nodded. "I'll take care of her, I promise."

"Thank you, for looking after her all these years. I wish that I hadn't been as angry as I was, maybe if I wasn't I could have saved her sooner..." Out of all the regrets Alex had that one was beginning to rear its head more and more. Every time he looked at Harley and how happy she was now he knew that she could have been that way much sooner if he hadn't given up on their friendship.

Ivy knew the basic details on what had happened that caused their friendship to fail, but she believed Alex blamed himself to much for what happened. "Sergeant, what happened wasn't your fault, as much as I hate to say it, Harley made that choice herself long before you came back from war, you had every right to be angry at her for what she did, you don't know how many times she's infuriated me over the overs, but what's important is that despite that you still found a way to care and we did save her, together. She's alive and happy today because she has people like you that care about her. You'll make it through this Sergeant, you have to, for her."

Alex nodded his head and offered a small smile. "Thanks Pamela, I really needed to hear that. You really are a good person, you know that? I wouldn't have expected to say this last year, but I'm glad we're friends."

It took Ivy a moment to register that he'd called her Pamela instead of Isley and had quickly followed that up with the word friend. She suddenly realized she was returning his smile, she didn't have many friends and could count her current ones on one hand, but after everything they had been through together she found herself agreeing that they were indeed friends.

"Yes, well I'm surprised to say that I agree with that assessment. Being friends that is, I don't know if I'd call myself a good person, Sergeant."

Alex rolled his eyes and laughed quietly. "Hey, my friends call me Alex and I mean it, people may see you as that crazy plant lady but to me your a damn hero and there's no one I'd rather have as my second in command."

"Well other than me you had a ditzy blonde or a flying rodent to choose from, so I think the choice was pretty obvious..." Ivy replied humorously.

"Yeah, your probably right. Although Barbara's gonna pick up Lance Corporal come September, so you might have some competition. Of course that all depends on how well she leads her mission." He admitted with a grin.

"I still appreciate the vote of confidence though, it's nice to have someone who sees potential in me again."

"Hey, wether you stay in or get out I know you'll accomplish whatever you set out to do, maybe just try not to wipe out all of humanity again though..." It was a joke to be sure, but Alex also didn't want Ivy to regress back to her old ways.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that, turns out your not all despicable creatures, and I get to kill the ones that are by sticking with you." Ivy wasn't a patriotic woman by any means and despite living in the United States she never concerned herself with the conflicts they engaged in over her long life.

She had been born during the Second World War, grown up and lived through the Cold War before becoming Poison Ivy, afterwards she lived to see the Gulf War and the start of the War on Terror. But she had never cared about America's enemies, she was to focused on protecting The Green from greedy corporations to worry about them. But nowadays it seemed that she and the United States shared common enemies and she was more than willing to cooperate, even if she had been conscripted.

"Ha, so should I hand you some reenlistment papers when we get back or what?" Again he was joking, but on the off chance Ivy did decide to stay in he knew that with her determination and intellect she'd go far in the Marines and very easily surpass him in both rank and billet.

"Don't push your luck, once my contract is fulfilled I'm done with the military." Ivy had no doubt that staying in the military could open many doors for her that would ultimately aid her in her goal of saving plant life, but while she was in it severely restricted her abilities to do much outside of their own goals.

"Yeah, but what other job lets you travel to new places, meet interesting people, and then kill them? Not to mention the free food and housing."

"Oh yes, how could I forget those five star meals that are MRE's. I'll pass." The mere thought of those disgusting meals was almost enough to make Ivy gag, and after having to live off of them for two months she had never felt so backed up in her life. If given the choice between eating another MRE and meat she'd easily choose the latter.

Alex laughed at the grimace on Ivy's face as she thought about the meals. "Yeah, shitting a brick is never fun."

"Well I certainly found that out the hard way..." Ivy replied with smile. With the mood lightened and Alex's spirits raised the two conversed happily and shot the shit together until the C130 finally landed in Washington hours later.

 **...**

"So this is Washington huh? You know I knew a few Marines from Washington in my old unit..." Alex commented as he and Ivy wandered down the streets of Seattle towards their hotel.

"Oh, and what were they like?" Ivy asked curiously.

"They were all fucking weird..." He replied before looking at her. "And that trend has not changed."

"I am not weird!" Ivy scoffed with mock offense.

"Pamela, you have green patterns all over you. That's weird..." He didn't actually think they were weird, rather Alex found them to be quite exotic, the swirling green designs that flowed over Ivy's pale skin only accentuated her natural beauty. When he'd been deployed one of his friends had been sent a newspaper article that had a picture of Ivy on it, dressed in her old leafy one piece that left little to the imagination and depicted her stretching her body seductively as police escorted her to Arkham. Needless to say it was quickly cut out and passed among the Platoon for 'private time' but he wouldn't tell her that...

"I wasn't born with these and I didn't ask for them, and I'll have you know that Harley loves them. She used to run her tongue along the ones closer to my..." Ivy began, teasing Alex as she traced her finger along a design down her throat and towards the center of her waist.

"Alright, I get it! That's an image I'll never get out of my head..." Alex suddenly interrupted, his face turning red. The mental image of Harley going down on Ivy was enough to get him hot and bothered.

"Your welcome for that." Ivy smirked as Alex sighed and massaged his forehead.

As they resumed walking Alex felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out and looked at the notification. "What the hell!?" He exclaimed.

"Something wrong?"

"One sec." Alex replied as he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. "Yeah, hey Harley. Care to explain why I'm suddenly missing a couple hundred dollars? Uh huh...Really? Well next time give me a heads up before you blow my money on clothes."

Ivy raised her brow curiously. "She spent a couple hundred on clothes? Aren't they supposed to be on a mission?" She asked as Alex hung up.

"Yes, but it turns out Harley's decided to play Cupid. One of Barbara's friends has a crush on her and Harley's trying to get them together."Alex replied. He had almost told Harley to knock it off before realizing that he'd sound like a major hypocrite if he did.

"She's the least qualified to give relationship advice, I mean she chose you over me!" Ivy exclaimed. While she was supportive of their relationship, she also liked to play around with it.

"Ok, one, fuck you. And two, I'm in agreement that Bab's could at least get laid, she probably needs it. Hopefully the guy Harley's setting her up with is at least good for her." Alex replied, hoping that Barbara wouldn't regret whatever she was getting into, or at worse be stupid and end up with an STD or pregnancy.

"What makes you think it's a guy Alex? Could be a woman for all we know."

"I'm pretty sure Bab's is straight Pamela."

"So was Harley until she met me..." Ivy replied with a wink as she strutted past him.

"I hate you so much..." Alex groaned as he chased after her.

 **...**

The following night Alex and Ivy sat in a parked car outside Seattle University, waiting patiently for the student populace to vacate the grounds.

"So, what exactly are we looking for again?" Alex asked as he loaded bullets into a magazine for his M9.

"This is where I was transformed into what I am today. My old mentor, Doctor Jason Woodrue, drugged me and held me captive in a lab built into the buildings foundation. It's well hidden and I suspect that no one's been down there since I escaped." Ivy answered while she stared out the window at the botany classroom. There was more that happened than that, but Alex only needed to know the basics. Anything else and he might start to think differently of her.

"No one except the New Era's goons that is." Alex slapped the now full magazine into his pistol and racked the slide back before passing it off to Ivy.

"So it would seem..." Seeing that the campus was now clear Ivy left the car and moved around to the trunk, Alex in tow. She rummaged through the truck for a moment before retrieving a shotgun. Ivy gripped the shotguns pump and racked it back, chambering a shotgun shell before tossing it to Alex who caught it in mid-air before unzipping his jacket to reveal a bandoleer of 00 buckshot across his chest.

He would have preferred his IAR, but the close quarters of a building made the shotgun more practical. Still, he could always pick up one of the enemies rifles if he had to, Alex always enjoyed figuring out how to use different firearms. After slinging his shotgun Alex reached into the trunk for his demo bag and the satchel of C4 needed to destroy the site. By the time he had everything Ivy had already stripped down to her green and black suit and was finishing strapping a pistol belt around her waist.

Ivy looked at the bag of explosives Alex had and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "A bit excessive don't you think?"

Alex down at the bag and back up to Ivy before shrugging his shoulders. "Naw..."

"If you say so." Truthfully Ivy was glad they had been ordered to destroy the old lab, she had too many horrible memories of her experiences there and she hoped destroying it would bring some closure. With that in mind she set off towards the botany lab, Alex in tow.

They walked up to the door only to find it locked. Before Ivy could think of anything Alex used the buttstock of his shotgun to bash in the doors window, reaching in and unlocking it from the inside.

"Ladies first." Alex smiled as he held the door open for Ivy.

Ivy rolled her eyes as she walked in. "Such a gentleman..."

The large classroom was illuminated only by the moonlight, casting shadows across the empty room. Alex scanned the room finding nothing out of the ordinary. He posted up by the door leading to the adjacent hallway, keeping guard as Ivy searched around one of the walls at the back of the room. She seemed to find what she was looking for, pushing an old, dust covered bookshelf aside. Alex walked over and stared questioningly at the stone wall.

"Uh, that's a wall."

Ivy responded by pushing against the wall which swung open on a hinge, revealing a staircase descending into the campus foundation.

"Ooh, how cliche." Alex commented cheerily before beginning to descend into the tunnel, shotgun raised. As they descended further the lighting only faded, surrounding them in darkness. "Damn, should have brought night-vision." Alex cursed as he stumbled around in the dark.

After stumbling around for what felt like hours they finally spotted a faint light and Alex started heading towards it. As they got closer they could begin to hear voices and Alex raised his shotgun.

"That's the lab" Ivy whispered quietly.

"Roger, standby." He whispered back. Alex pointed his weapon and fired, a small cluster of seeds flying into the lab.

As the seeds flew into the lab Ivy willed them to life, sprouting vines that ensnared those close enough. While Ivy ensnared those she could Alex charged forward, ejecting the spent seed shell and loading buckshot.

He entered the lab, blasting a guard in the chest and taking control of the right side, Ivy quickly followed and took the left, using her pistol to drop two more guards before they could fire.

Alex blasted the final guard, securing the lab. "Huh, would have thought there'd be more of these assholes." He was surprised the enemies security had been so lax, he and Ivy had killed or subdued them all without them being able to get a shot off.

"They most likely didn't think we'd find them. Their mistake, our gain." Ivy shrugged.

"Whatever, let's find what we're looking for and blow this joint. Literally." Alex joked as he set about emplacing his charges and priming into them.

While Alex got to work Ivy took a look around the room that she had once been held captive for months and subjected to all forms of cruel experiments that damaged her both mentally and physically in more ways than one. The lab was still the same as she remembered it, containers filled with various chemicals, plant specimens, the gurney she had been strapped to, all the same. Memories of her abuse were beginning to surface and Ivy quickly forced them to the back of her mind, focusing on the only thing different, a terminal the New Era goons had set up. She booted up the screen to find that several data packets had been sent out to an undisclosed location.

She looked down and discovered that Woodrue's old journal still sat on the desk and she guessed that it's contents had been scanned and sent out. Grabbing the book Ivy flipped through it and was overwhelmed to find that Woodrue had written in graphic detail everything he had done to her, from the cruel, sadistic experiments to using her for his own vile pleasures. Ivy cursed to herself, feeling rage that her privacy had been invaded boil over and without thinking she tossed the book down and punched her fist through the computer, ripping out the hard drive.

Alex looked over to she what was going on to find Ivy pulling her bloody fist out of the remains of the computer. Noticing the book she had thrown, he picked it up and began sifting through the pages only to wish he hadn't as he cringed at the depravity within. After only a few pages he couldn't read any more, setting the journal down and looking at Ivy with pity. "Pamela, I am so sorry..."

Ivy could tell by the look in his eyes that he had found out exactly what had been done to her in that book and she hated it.

"You weren't even born when it happened, there's no possible way you could have prevented it..." She said quietly, trying her best to remain in control of her emotions.

"I know that, but this...you didn't deserve that. You were robbed of your life by that monster." Jason Woodrue was a depraved, vile excuse for a man and Alex sincerely hoped that he was dead, otherwise he'd hunt the man down and make him pay for what he'd done to his friend. And Alex could be very creative when it came to hurting people.

"Yes, I was. But I don't let what happened define who I am." Ivy was hurting inside, she hadn't wanted anyone to find out more than she'd let them, but she had to remain strong, refusing to break down in front of her friend and show weakness.

"Have you talked to anyone about it? Does Harley know?"

"No, your the only one, though I suspect when you hand that over the General will also know." Ivy had never spoken about it to anyone, not the police, not the staff at Arkham, not even her best friend. But now Alex knew and she hated that look of pity he was giving her.

"Yeah, he will. And he'll be concerned like I am. I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened but you have people that care about you and will listen if you want, myself included." This was all foreign territory for Alex, he had never been in this situation, he received annual training on the subject sure and was aware that it happened occasionally, but he'd never expected to find out one of his Marines had been... he was sorely unprepared to handle this.

"Thank you Sergeant, I appreciate your concern for my well being but this is hardly the place." She really was appreciative, but she had buried what happened years ago and digging it up would only make things harder for her.

"Right, well, here. You should be the one to blow this place." Alex handed her the detonator, pressing it firmly into her palm. He wouldn't press her into talking but he hoped to at least give her a small sense of closure.

Ivy looked down at the detonator and nodded appreciatively. "What about them?" She asked, referring to the New Era goons that she had rendered unconscious.

"The terrorists?" Fuck them, they can rot." Alex replied coldly. Even if he wanted to take them captive they didn't have the logistics to do so.

With both the hard drive and journal secure Alex and Ivy fled from the lab, Ivy hitting the detonator as they left the building. The lab exploded with a muffled thump as they drove away. A clean up crew would sweep in later and ensure the site was truly inaccessible.

 **...**

It was a few days after Alex had sent Woodrue's journal off that General Anderson contacted him and Ivy. To say he was disturbed by the contents of the intel was an understatement.

 _"This is by far the most horrifying thing I have read in my life, but at least we now know what the enemy knows."_

"Which is?" Alex asked.

 _"Aside from the depravity, this book contains the process to create more beings like Poison Ivy, which the enemy now has their hands on. Combine that with the kryptonite they're trying to get their hands on and they'll have a meta-human army with the capabilities to bring down the strongest individuals on the planet. That's an enemy we'd be nearly powerless to stop."_

"So, what do we do Sir?"

 _"Gordon and Quinzel were unsuccessful in their mission, the New Era got a hold of Lena Luthor. As far as we know they haven't made any demands from Lex Luthor yet, but when they do we need to be ready."_

"I'm sure Selina will let us know when that happens, she is surprisingly resourceful." Ivy added.

 _"Agreed. Aside from that we're ramping up security in several locations, National City, Gotham, Metropolis, Central City, and Washington D.C. to name a few. The National Guard are being deployed to aid local Law Enforcement with security measures."_

"Are we expecting another attack?"

 _"Not yet, but everything seems to be pointing towards a major ground offensive in the near future. Second Marine Division stands ready to deploy to the Eastern cities, same with First Marine Division on the West Coast while the Army holds the mainland. We're also drawing up plans with the Justice League to support this campaign if and when it starts. For now I need you two back in Gotham, we're business as usual until we get word from Miss Kyle. Sergeant, the Justice League is expressing more interest in a joint operation to combat this growing threat. Supergirl aided our friends in National City and the League has nominated her to work alongside us. Expect a visit from her in the near future and determine if she is fit for duty alongside the unit."_

"Yes Sir."

 _"And one last thing, Pamela, what happened to you will remain between the three of us. This hard drive will be stripped of it's useful data and then I will personally destroy it and that journal. I understand that you don't want to talk about the subject with us, but there are resources available to you should you feel the need to do so, Sergeant Westbrook can assist you in this matter. Whatever you were before you're one of us now and we want to make sure that you're taken care of."_

"Thank you Sir, I appreciate your concern but it happened before either of you were even born and I've had decades to come to terms with what happened. I have not and will not let what happened affect who I am and I especially don't want to be treated any differently from you two."

 _"Understood, just be aware that the enemy is also aware of this information and they may try to use it against you."_

"I can handle whatever those idiots think they can throw at me."

 _"No doubt. You're a strong woman Pamela, Never doubt that. I'll see you both back in Gotham..."_

 **...Mission Complete...**


	41. Chapter 41

Harley sat alone on her and Alex's bed back at the apartment in Gotham. She and Barbara had made it back before Alex and Ivy, their flight from Seattle had been delayed several hours due to a freak storm. With nothing to do and bored out of her mind Harley got up and paced around the room, stopping occasionally to look at Alex's things. His uniforms were hung up in the closet as he'd left them, pressed and inspection ready, not that anyone was here to inspect them. On the wall next to the window a poster of Darth Vader pointing at the viewer captioned _"Your Empire needs you!"_ Was tacked up with the Lego AT-AT built and displayed on a shelf below it. Alex was such a nerd, Harley remembered him spending his weekends in high school binge watching every Star Wars movie in order.

On his desk sat a laptop, the backside covered in random stickers Alex had collected. Next to it sat a framed picture of her and Alex at a casino in Las Vegas, him in his Dress Blues and her in a dress, both smiling happily at the camera as Alex had his arm around her waist. Alex and Harleen, Marine Corps Ball 2011 was written on the back in permanent marker.

That night had been both crazy and wonderful. Harley had met Alex's friend Daniels and the rest of his platoon, danced with Alex before the dance floor had turned into a mosh pit as the Marines partied on, and after Alex's NCO's snuck them both a few beers, they retired to their room where they had explored and expanded their relationship past being mere friends. Alex had been so shy and nervous, even though Harley had been the one to initiate. She had been nervous as well, neither of them had been with anyone before but she trusted Alex, he was her best friend after all. Kissing had turned to light touching and by morning Harley lay cuddled up next to Alex, his arm securely around her under the covers. It had been one of the most wonderful nights of her life and she cherished the memory.

Looking at that picture also brought on a lot of regrets, she could have been as happy as she was then now if she had never fallen under Jokers spell. She had realized too late that Alex's feeling for her were stronger than just simple friendship, that the only reason he hadn't acted on them sooner was because he didn't want to put her through the pain of worrying about him while he was deployed, or worse, the heartache if he had been killed. She often wondered what life would have been like, would they have been married? have had a kid or two by now? There were so many possibilities she'd missed out on because of her stupid mistake. But despite the odds she had been reunited with Alex and he had forgiven her, and somehow his feelings for her still remained and she was grateful beyond measure that they were finally together after all these years, even in these trying times where they were in more danger than ever and she imagined that Alex constantly worried about her when they were out in the field.

As Harley finished reminiscing about the past she heard the front door open and left the bedroom to greet Alex as he walked in. Alex smiled at Harley as he set his bags down by the couch. She crossed the room and hugged him, giving him a quick kiss before returning his smile.

"Hey, I missed you too." Alex chuckled as he held her. "You alright? Heard you guys got thrashed pretty bad." He asked, looking her over for injuries.

"Yeah, we're fine though. Bab's was great, they just got the jump on us is all."

"That's good. We'll get them back don't worry. Ivy and I are fine too." He told her, but there was something in the way he said it that made Harley think otherwise.

"You sure? Sounds like something's bothering you?" She asked concerned.

"Well, let's just say I learned some stuff about Ivy that she'd rather I hadn't and leave it at that."

"Was it something bad?" Harley was afraid to ask, that she wouldn't like the answer.

Alex sighed before looking at her. "Harley, the man that experimented on her, he hurt her real bad. Interpret that as you will but I can't tell you more than that."

It didn't take a genius to understand what he was referring to and Harley slowly sunk to the couch as she came to that same realization. "Oh Red, why didn't she tell me? I could've helped her! She didn't need to keep that bottled up." Ivy rarely talked about her early life with Harley, but from what she did reveal Harley never would have guessed.

"She said she's come to terms with it and that she doesn't want to be treated differently and I agree with her. If she wants to talk about it she will but we can't force her to, got it?" Alex told her as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah, I just... she's my best friend Alex."

"I understand that, believe me I do, but she needs to be the one to ask for help. Don't pressure her into talking with you." Alex wanted Ivy to get help just as much, but he was torn between his duty as a Sergeant and his friendship with her. He believed her when she said she was fine and had decided to give her the benefit of the doubt but wouldn't hesitate to send her to counseling if any issues arose.

"Ok. Can we talk about something else please? I don't wanna think about this right now." Alex was right, if Ivy said she was fine then she was fine. Harley worried about her friend but she knew Ivy was strong enough to deal with anything.

"Sure. How'd your little matchmaking plan work out?" Alex asked, grateful for the change in subject. "You didn't set Barbara up with some asshole did you? If she comes back pregnant..."

Harley smiled slyly and giggled. "Oh trust me, there's no chance of that happening. Besides, Bab's ain't the type to just jump into bed on the first date."

"Well, that's a relief. So who'd you set her up with?"

"Nope, you'll just have to figure that one out yourself. But they're sweet, a bit awkward, kinda like how you were back in the day."

"I wasn't awkward, was I?" Alex asked as he tried to remember.

"Oh yes you were. I remember you nearly had a meltdown the first time you saw me naked." Harley said with a laugh.

"Well, yeah! I totally wasn't expecting that at all!" Alex exclaimed.

"But you certainly liked it..." Harley purred, pushing Alex so he laid back on the couch. She had missed him in the week they were apart, and reminiscing about their night in Vegas had made her miss him even more, and after the crazy week they had she thought they could definitely use this.

"You did too, if my memory's correct." Alex smirked as he tried to sit up only to have Harley push him back down and straddle his waist.

"Oh I certainly did." She said before leaning down to kiss him as his hands hovered over her waist, not quite touching her. Even years later and after everything he'd been through, Alex was still unsure of himself so Harley had to be the one to initiate. She didn't mind though, it was rather endearing that he was so nervous.

Harley sat back up and smiled down at Alex before pulling her shirt off and revealing her bare chest. Alex took in the sight of her, memorizing every detail as his hands reaching up to touch the various scars that she had acquired. Harley frowned slightly, feeling rather self conscious as Alex traced his finger down a scar along her side. She wasn't ashamed of how her body looked, rather she was mad at herself for letting her body end up that way.

Alex didn't care though, he loved her just the way she was. "Your so beautiful Harleen..." He whispered. Harley blushed and smiled happily as he pulled her back down to kiss her again. Alex felt her smile against his lips as she reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it off as they broke apart and tossing it aside.

Harley hummed appreciatively as she ran her hands over his chest. Unlike most of his peers Alex hadn't worked on getting as bulked up as possible, instead his muscles were more lean, giving him a smaller but more agile frame. Harley stopped her hand over the scar tissue on his chest from were he'd been shot, poking it with her finger. Alex hissed quietly as a small jolt of pain passed over him.

"Sorry! Still sensitive?"

"Just a bit, nothing to worry about!" He reassured. While his body had recovered he still experienced phantom pain from time to time, usually in the form of a slight burning sensation.

"Here, let me make it better." She leaned down again and pressed her lips to the scar, kissing it gently. "Feel better?"

"Much." He replied, leaning forward to do the same to the gunshot wound on her own chest. Harley gasped as Alex kissed her chest, his hands sliding up her sides to cup her breasts. Alex kissed his way down her body while his hands continued their attention on her breasts.

"Mmm, god that feels good..." Once Alex got over his nerves he certainly knew how to use his hands for more than just pulling triggers.

"I'm glad you think so." Alex smiled as he took her hand in his, circling his thumb over the scar from the bullet he'd shot her with. He kissed the palm of her hand and looked deep into her eyes. "You don't know how much I love you Harleen..." He whispered.

Harley smiled and kissed him again. "Why don't you show me..."

 **...**

Ivy walked into Gotham National as she did every other week to deposit her DOD paycheck that she received in the mail. The pay she made as a Lance Corporal wasn't much, coming just short of two thousand a month, but it was enough for her to live off of if she saved it right, which she did.

As she stepped up to the desk the teller jumped in surprise at the sight of her, reaching for the panic button on instinct but stopping just short of pressing it as Ivy held out her check.

"Must we do this every time? I'm not a villain anymore." She said in annoyance.

The teller relaxed as he nervously took the check from her hands. "My apologies miss Isley, it's just with your reputation... well it's taking some time to get used to seeing you is all."

"Yeah, yeah. Just deposit the check, I have more important things to do than be hassled by security because of your nerves."

"Of course, right away!"

As Ivy waited she glanced around the room to see the other patrons eyeing her suspiciously. Thanks to the Marine Corps PR campaign most everyone knew that she was signed on with them but since her work was done in secret they didn't have any actual proof that she was really reformed. Ivy couldn't have cared less what they thought, but the stares rather annoying.

Finally the teller finished but as she turned to leave a gunshot rang out. "Nobody move, got it!"

Ivy spun around and saw a group of armed gunmen standing in the middle of the lobby. "Now might be the time to press that button..." She told the teller before walking forward and putting herself between the civilians and gunmen.

"Hey lady, back off!" The lead robber shouted, leveling his pistol with her.

Ivy scoffed at the threat. "Oh you poor little man. You idiots must be new to Gotham, otherwise you'd know better than to threaten Poison Ivy..."Ivy smirked as the robbers looked at each other nervously, lowering their weapons slightly.

"So...so what? There ain't no plants in here for you. You got nothing!" The lead robber shot back, his confidence coming back as Ivy seemingly had no means of offense. He stepped up to her and pressed the muzzle of his pistol to her forehead.

"Get that gun out of my face." Ivy snarled. She had survived too much, sacrificed too much, to be killed by some punk on a power trip because he had a gun.

"Or what?" The thug asked, ignoring her warning.

"Or this!" Ivy spat in his eyes, her toxic saliva burning his retinas and blinding him. He'd live, but her acidic spit would render him permanently blind. The robber screamed in agony as Ivy gained control of his weapon and swept his legs out from under him. She pointed the pistol at the second goon as she used her off hand to shoot a vine and ensnare the third before he could get a shot off. "Unless you want to end up like your friends you'll drop that weapon." Ivy warned, clicking the hammer on the pistol back for emphasis.

The goon looked at his buddies writhing on the floor and gulped, dropping his weapon and surrendering. "There's a smart boy." Ivy smirked before ensnaring him as well. With the robbers tied up she lowered her confiscated weapon and looked back at the crowd of people. They all stared at her awestruck before someone broke the silence by clapping and soon the rest of them joined in applauding and thanking her.

Now it was Ivy's turn to be surprised, she wasn't used to receiving praise like she was now but she couldn't deny the feeling was...nice. But her sudden good mood was dampened by a voice she loathed to hear.

"Poison Ivy..." Ivy turned around again to find Batman had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Batman...What a pleasant surprise. I hope your not here to cart me off back to Arkham." She greeted disdainfully.

Batman looked down at the would be robbers and back up at Ivy. "I don't see a reason too. Looks like your becoming quite the hero." He praised.

"Don't patronize me. This was self preservation, nothing more." Ivy hated that stupid smirk on his face, like he had just scored a victory over her.

"Really? So you didn't step between these innocent people and loaded guns? You only wounded these men instead of killing them?" She had, hadn't she. Ivy cursed internally as she realized Batman had her there.

"Pure coincidence." Ivy replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Uh huh. I think you've really changed Pamela, for the better." Ivy couldn't deny that she'd changed, though wether it was for the better was up for debate.

"That's an interesting theory you have, but an irrelevant one. I do what's necessary."

"Of course. Wouldn't want to ruin your sparkling reputation." Ivy was surprised at his sarcasm, he was usually so stoic. But clearly he wasn't buying her self preservation story as evidenced by the smirk still plastered on his face.

"Ugh, go fuck a bat..."

 **...Mission Complete...**


	42. Chapter 42

Kara checked the address Barbara had texted her once again as she walked through Gotham looking for the Armed Forces Recruitment Center. She had no doubt that she could have found it easily enough if she flew around but that held the possibility of every criminal in Gotham becoming aware of her presence so she had decided that wandering around in civies was a better alternative. After walking in circles for almost an hour Kara finally stumbled on the recruitment offices and located the Marines office.

As she walked in she noticed a man in woodland camouflage spinning in an office chair behind a desk as he played on his phone. He seemed oblivious to her presence as he continued to spin around.

"Uh, are you Sergeant Westbrook?" She asked. The man jumped slightly at hearing her speak and came to a sudden halt, dropping his phone on the desk as he looked up to see who was talking to him.

"Oh, sorry! Didn't hear you come in! Yes, I'm Sergeant Westbrook, it says so right here!" He replied, pointing to the name tape on his uniform. "Take a seat, how can I help you?" He asked as Kara sat in the chair across from him.

"Thanks, uh, Sergeant."

"So, looking to enlist and take the fight to ISIS? You know combat arms just opened up to women earlier this year." He told her as he pulled out a binder from the desk and flipped through it, showing Kara the list of jobs the Marine Corps offered.

Kara realized he thought she was a college student looking to enlist. She smiled at his enthusiasm but quickly shook her head. "Thanks but that's not why I'm here. I was told by a General Anderson to meet you here?" Kara replied, hoping the General's name would make him realize who she was.

"Oh, shit. Why didn't you just say so? You must be Supergirl! Been expecting you around here." He replied cheerily, putting the binder away.

"Your right, sorry. I'm Kara by the way." She apologized, offering her hand in greeting.

"Alex, pleasure to meet you. I hear you helped out my Devil Dogs in National City, thanks for keeping them alive." Alex smiled as he shook her hand.

"Just part of the job, besides what kind a friend would I be if I let Barbara get herself killed in my city? Although she certainly made it difficult, falling out of a helicopter and almost getting blown up...That rocket burned up my favorite set of civies!" Kara was still pretty upset about that, though she supposed what had resulted afterwards was a more than fair trade.

"Yeah she does have a knack for getting herself injured, almost bled out in the damn sewers on our first mission." Alex chuckled as he shook his head at the memory.

"Well hopefully with me around I can keep her and the others safe. I hear you've assembled quite the team for your mission." Kara didn't know the specifics of how each member had been appointed, only that Harley and Ivy had been conscripted as part of some crack deal. Barbara had been a different case, she had been awarded her status and was free to leave at anytime if she chose to do so.

"More like they found me. I was sent here solo last year and through a complicated chain of events this task group was formed. And now Headquarters Marine Corps and the League are talking about making this a joint op. We already have Batman as our liaison but you'd be attached to us in more direct support role. I just need to go over a few things before your officially assigned." He said as he retrieved a handful of official looking documents.

"Alright, shoot."

"You understand that you are being assigned to a U.S. military unit and agree to follow all lawful orders from any Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers in the chain of command. Refusal to do so will subject you to being charged under the UCMJ and if convicted you will be detained in a federal prison." Alex read off the paper. There was more to the agreement but he just needed to make sure Kara understood the more important clauses.

"You guys aren't going to have me doing anything extreme are you?" Kara really wanted to help but she didn't want to be thrown into federal prison because of a conflict of interests.

"Let me put it this way, if I gave you an unlawful order I can be charged and imprisoned. So it's in both of our interests to accomplish this mission within established guidelines."

"Oh, that's reasonable. I don't think following your orders will be that different from the Leagues, honestly it'll probably be easier." The Leagues guidelines were extremely strict. Members had to maintain the Leagues reputation as a benevolent force and uphold the ideals the League was founded on. Failure to do so resulted in the offending members immediate termination.

"Just remember that while your attached to us your still a member of the League and they can recall you at anytime." Alex doubted they would, but he was obligated to inform her regardless.

"Well unless an alien invasion happens I think I'm good."

"Cool. Alright, this is is gonna be more of a morals question, it's not official but as your potential team leader it's a question that I feel is important and I need you to answer honestly."

"Why do I feel like I'm not gonna like this question?"

"I understand that the League has a strict no killing policy but if the situation dictated are you capable of killing a human being to save the lives of your teammates?"

Kara frowned at the question. She had been expecting it and it made sense that Alex would care about the answer. Barbara had told her that Alex cared about the lives of his Marines more than the enemies and that he had killed several people to save her life. Kara knew it was a hypothetical question but it did make her think. Could she bring herself to kill if her friends were in danger? If Barbara's life depended on her to do so? Kara had already taken a rocket for her, surely killing wasn't to far a stretch.

After thinking on the question Kara finally answered. "I'd really prefer to avoid killing, I haven't had to in my career so far, but I suppose if lives depended on me and there was no other option..."

"Hey, I get it. We do what we have too when the situation arises. I haven't pressured Barbara into killing and I won't pressure you. All I ask is that you put the lives of your teammates above the enemy."

"I understand Sergeant. I'll do my best to keep your guys alive, you have my word."

"That'll have to do. Alright, welcome to Special Tasks Group E." He said as he passed the documents and a pen to her. Kara saw that the documents were marked with the seal of both the Department of Defense and the Justice League, signaling that the two organizations were now officially working together.

"What's the E stand for?" Kara asked curiously after she reread the terms of her contract and sighed at the bottom. Alex took the papers and filed them away to be sent up to headquarters later before answering.

"It's our designation, and no I didn't pick it because alpha through delta were taken. I'm trying to have our call sign changed from Knight to Empire, you know from Star Wars? It sounds way cooler and it makes sense cause we're fighting a bunch of rebels." Alex hated the rebels and imagining the New Era as rebels made them all the more fun to fight.

"Makes sense, though the Empire lost if I remember correctly." Kara reminded him.

"Lies! The Empire will crush the rebellion and bring order to the galaxy, just like we'll crush these terrorists!" Alex proclaimed excitedly. He didn't care if the Empire actually won or not they were still his favorite.

"Ok ok! Yeah, let's crush these rebels!"

"Fuck yeah we will! Come on, let's go see the rest of the guys." Alex smiled as he got up and led Kara towards the back patio. "The team hangs around back PTing the Poolees or helping me with paperwork during the week. Weekends are off duty days but we're always on call when the General needs us." He explained to her.

"Sounds like a sweet gig. Wish the League gave us weekends off..." Kara mused as she followed Alex out back.

"You've already met Barbara and Harley, they're my intel specialist and point man respectively. Both are very good at what they do but I'm guessing you've already learned that from working with them." Alex continued as he opened the door leading outside.

They walked onto the patio to find Barbara and Ivy gathered around Harley, all dressed in the same woodland cammies as Alex with their hair tied up in regulation buns save for Harley thanks to her cutting hers down. Kara had to stifle a giggle at seeing them in uniform, but she was happy to see that Barbara looked as beautiful as ever even in military regulations. Harley was showing them something on her phone and she started laughing at whatever she was showing them while Barbara gagged and Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Aw come on guys that's funny! Sergeant come see this!" Harley waved them over and replayed the video for them.

Alex and Kara watched as what appeared to be an ISIS fighter trying to fire a PKM machine gun from a roof. The terrorist only managed to fire of a short burst before being suddenly shot dead center of the forehead and collapsing in a heap as his comrades started shouting. The video ended with a shot of the dead fighter lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood.

"Hell yeah, fuck that ISIS motherfucker! You gotta send me that link, shits funny as fuck!" Alex wiped his eyes as he laughed. One thing he loved more than Star Wars was watching terrorists get what they deserved and was a sure fire way to bring a smile to his face.

"Wow, that's definitely something Harley..." Kara replied. While she didn't believe in killing she understood that ISIS was one of the most evil organizations on the planet and that the military was justified in killing their members.

"Blondie! Nice to see you again!" Harley exclaimed as she gathered Kara into a hug.

"Oof, you too Harley!" Kara returned the embrace as Barbara and Ivy walked over. Kara let go of Harley and turned to Barbara, smiling happily as she gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Hey you..."

"Hey yourself..." Barbara grinned.

Alex looked at the two confused before everything clicked together. "Oh, so your Barbara's new special someone! I've been asking Harley but she held out on me."

"And you owe me a hundred dollars Sergeant, pay up." Ivy interrupted with a smug smile on her face. Alex sighed as he pulled out his wallet and handed Ivy a handful of bills.

"You two had a bet on who I'd end up dating!?" Barbara exclaimed angrily as she glared at the two.

"Well I assumed Harley was setting you up with a guy and Ivy was all like what if it's not a guy. I mean, personally I don't care what you put your dingaling in, but a hundred dollars is a hundred dollars and I was pretty sure you were straight..." Alex shrugged as he explained.

"A hundred dollars you just lost." Ivy reminded him. "Nice catch by the way Babybat." She winked at Barbara.

"Uh, thanks Ivy. Also I'm a female, I don't have a dingaling to put into things! And I still like guys, I think? Oh my god am I turning into a lesbian!?" Barbara was getting really confused. She liked being with Kara, holding and kissing her felt right, but she never really considered herself to be anything other than straight before.

"Well that's a question you have to figure out for yourself Devil Dog. Sorry to say I can't answer that one but I don't give a fuck either way." Alex reassured her and Barbara seemed to calm down a bit at his acceptance of her. Hopefully her father was as accepting as he was.

"Thanks Sergeant, oh man I gotta lot to figure out..." Barbara massaged her temple as she sat back down on the nearby bench.

"You can do all the soul searching you want on your time, not mine. But hey, congrats you two. Really I'm happy for you, just don't be stupid in the field. Moving on, Kara this is Ivy my second in command..." Alex said, changing the subject to Barbara's relief.

"We've met before, you tried to kill me by kissing me remember?" Kara said as she crossed her arms and glared at the older woman. She knew Ivy wasn't a villain anymore but attempted murder was a hard thing to get over.

"And yet here you are, alive and well. Seems I need to work on the concentration of my poison." Ivy smirked back at Kara. "If it makes you feel better that punch to the face you gave me afterwards really hurt."

"It was meant too..." Kara shot back as Alex stepped between the two.

"Knock it off Ivy." Alex ordered sternly, but before Kara could smile in triumph he turned and pointed at her. "And you, like it or not Ivy's a part of this team just like you, and I will not tolerate any hostility between you two. Is that understood?" Alex hated having to raise his voice and snap at his Marines but he knew from experience that he had to squash this now, otherwise they risked ruining the units cohesion which could lead to trouble on the battlefield.

"Yes Sergeant..." Ivy and Kara replied together.

"Good, Pamela this is Kara, Kara this is Pamela. Make nice with each other." Alex knew he couldn't order them to be friends but he could order them to at least be civil with each other.

"Look Supergirl, I'm sorry I tried to kill you. I'm a different person than I was then and if your willing to I'd like to start over." Ivy apologized. She wasn't so petty as to hold a grudge and was hoping Supergirl was the same.

Kara sighed as she considered Ivy's words. She had tried to kill her but that had been awhile ago and Kara knew the woman was doing her best to reinvent herself just like Harley was. As much as she wanted to Kara couldn't bring herself to reject Ivy's apology. "Alright Ivy, I forgive you. Maybe just keep your lips to yourself."

"Not all my kisses are poisonous..." Ivy replied humorously in an attempt to lift the mood.

"Hmm, tempting but I already have a beautiful redhead as my girlfriend." Kara replied with a grin as she wrapped her arm around Barbara's waist and held her close.

"That you do, and I sincerely hope your worthy of her affection."Ivy's eyes flashed dangerously as she warned Kara. Ivy hadn't told Barbara but she had grown to like the younger woman, despite them having been enemies little over a year ago, and she had begun to think that if she had the ability to have a daughter she'd want her to be like Barbara and as such she wanted the best for her. She supposed that she really had fallen into being the "Mom" that Alex kept insisting she was.

"Alright, that's better." Alex checked the time on his phone and saw it was about time to close shop. "I got nothing else for you guys today. Kara I'll need your number before you go. The rest of you, remember to keep your phones on hand and be back here same time tomorrow."

 **...**

After changing over into civies and letting her hair down Barbara had driven herself and Kara to the park so she could get some air and gather her thoughts after her little worry session. She sat on a bench next to Kara who watched her worriedly.

"You alright Barbara? You haven't said anything sense we left." The car ride over had been uncomfortably silent and Kara had stared out the window the whole ride to avoid the awkward silence.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry I'm just feeling really confused right now. I always thought I was straight but here I am with you, another woman..." Barbara explained, hoping that Kara would understand the predicament she found herself in.

"Oh...you don't regret that do you?" Kara was worried that Barbara may have started to have second thoughts about being with her.

"No, of course not! Your really sweet Kara and I love spending time with you. I just think it all happened so fast I haven't had time to process it fully. I'm still attracted to guys but when I look at you I definitely feel something." Barbara reassured her.

"Is it a good feeling?" Kara asked hopefully as she looked into Barbara's brilliant green eyes.

Barbara's answer was to smile as she leaned in to kiss her. Kara grinned as she felt Barbara nibble her lip and she parted her lips to let her tongue explore. She groaned in pleasure as Barbara continued to kiss her and left her out of breathe when she eventually had to come up for air.

"Does that answer your question?" Barbara asked once she caught her breath.

"Mmm, your a good kisser..." Kara smiled happily. She loved that Barbara wasn't afraid to take charge like that.

"Better than Ivy?" Barbara asked jokingly.

"Much better. So are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I'm still getting used to us, but I'll be fine. Let's just take things slow and see what happens, ok?"

"Of course, whatever you need. I just want to make you happy Barbara." Kara didn't want to make Barbara feel uncomfortable so if taking things slow was what she needed to do than Kara wouldn't rush things anymore than they already had.

"Well your doing a good job of it so far, I haven't felt this great in a long time. Alright, I'm done moping, you wanna pop smoke and grab some food?"

"How could I say no to you?"

The two walked blissfully back to Barbara's car with smiles on their faces and hands intertwined. As they reached the car Barbara quickly gave Kara another peck on the lips before circling around to the drivers seat and starting the car. An hour later Barbara and Kara were just finishing up dinner when their phones buzzed. They looked to see it was from Alex over the teams group chat.

 _"Change of word. All hands brief ASAP at my place, weapons and ammo draw immediately after."_

Kara frowned as she read the text. "What do you thinks going on?" She asked worriedly. She hadn't even been in Gotham for twenty four hours and she was already being called in.

"Whatever it is it warrant weapons, so it's gotta be something dangerous." Barbara answered with a shrug. She'd become more accustomed to the violence of military operations and she found herself caring less and less about her allies use of guns, though she still hadn't drawn her issued rifle yet. That was a quick way to get a lecture from Bruce if he found out, and she knew that he would if she did.

"So business as normal I take it?" Kara replied with grin.

"Unfortunately, come on we better get going. I gotta feeling it's going to be a long night..."

 **...Mission Complete...**


	43. Chapter 43

The first few rays of sun were just beginning to appear over the horizon, dispelling the thin layer of fog blanketing the ground. Barbara shivered as the cold morning air hit her, made worse by the dew-covered grass that soaked the front of her costume as she lay prone on a small hill. Next to her lay Alex, his rifle propped up on its bipod and pointed down the hill, not at all unfazed by the chilly morning air. Thanks to the digital woodland pattern of his uniform breaking up his outline Barbara wouldn't have known he was there if he hadn't accompanied her up the hill.

The two overlooked a scrapyard a few hundred meters away, the chosen meeting point the New Era would be exchanging their hostage, Lena Luthor, to her brother Lex Luthor for his stash of kryptonite. The scrapyard resided between Gotham and Metropolis, well out of the way of any prying eyes. A rusted chain-link fence circled the perimeter and barely kept the mounds of garbage and wrecked vehicles from spilling out into the field surrounding the yard. A mile north of the yard was a small town barely visible through a tree line running south-east along a river, the only accessible route being a double-lane bridge.

Thanks to intel from Catwoman they had learned that the exchange would be taking place in within the hour and after a quick brief from the General they had drawn weapons and ammo from the armory and drove out to the small town before making their way to their respective positions on foot.

"Echo Two, Echo Four, this is Echo One. Are you in position?" Alex asked over the radio. On the other side of the yard Ivy and Harley laid in the same position. Once the enemy arrived the two would begin firing on their position to distract the bulk of the enemy forces and allow Alex and Barbara to move in and plant explosive charges on the containers of kryptonite before grabbing Lena. Harley had traded out her MP5 SMG for an M4 carbine with an under barrel M203 grenade launcher and was also armed with a Stinger missile in the event the New Era's Hind made an appearance and Barbara knew from experience that Harley was very skilled with rocket launchers.

 _"This is Echo Two, we're all set up here."_ Ivy replied shortly after.

"Roger. Five you good?"

 _"Skies are clear up here, waiting on you guys."_ Kara replied as she circled the airspace above the yard. While the others engaged the ground forces Kara was responsible for capturing Lex and the New Era's leadership. General Anderson had expressed that he didn't care if General Nelson, his Lieutenant, or Lex were killed or not, so long as they were removed from the fight. In his eyes if they could neutralize their leadership the New Era would fall apart.

"Roger. Alright, let's run through this again. Once the exchange is underway Echo's Two and Four will begin suppressive fire and distract the enemy. While that's going on myself and Echo Three will move in and plant charges on the shipment. By this time Watcher One-Five will be in the area and after the charges are blown we'll grab the Precious Cargo and bring her to LZ One, where One-Five will extract her. As all this is going on Echo Five will drop in and secure or destroy the High Value Targets. Once all our objectives are completed we'll withdraw across the bridge and back to the vehicle, where we'll exfiltrate back to Gotham."

It was a good, simple plan but there was a lot that could go wrong. They were by themselves out here and any QRF that could possibly come from Gotham or Metropolis was at least an hour away in both directions. Barbara didn't like that and had voiced her concerns but since she was just a PFC she was ultimately overruled by her higher ups. The reward of ending the New Era threat today greatly outweighed the risk involved.

Another half hour passed before a convoy of vehicles pulled into the yard from the northern road. They stopped in the center of the yard allowing New Era soldiers to hop out and establish a perimeter to keep out unwanted guests. Shortly afterwards a limousine flanked by black SUV's pulled in and parked several feet from the previous vehicles. As more people began to emerge and move around Alex sighted in with his IAR for a better view.

"Alright, I got eyes on Luthor in the limo and it looks like the New Era leadership are walking up now." He told Barbara before passing her the rifle to let her see.

Barbara looked through the ACOG sight and spotted the two just as Lex emerged from his limo and stood across from General Nelson and his Lieutenant. Both parties were flanked on either side by guards with assault rifles with more milling about around the parked vehicles. After the two parties exchanged words Nelson motioned to one of his soldiers and Lena was brought forth from one of the New Era trucks.

"Lena's out. If we're gonna move now's the time." Barbara informed Alex as she passed his rifle back.

"Got it. Echo Two, Echo Four begin distraction, over." Alex said into his radio. It wasn't even a second later before he and Barbara heard the _"Thuump!"_ of Harley's grenade launcher from across the yard. The grenade spun through the air, striking Lex's limousine and detonating on impact, destroying the vehicle. The explosion was quickly followed up by bursts of gunfire from the hill and several soldiers from both sides were cut down before they realized what was happening and regrouped for a counter-attack. "That's our que, let's move!" Alex ordered as he jumped to his feet and took off down the hill.

Barbara quickly got up and grabbed the satchel of explosives before sprinting after him, catching up just as they hit the fence line. Alex took point as they skirted the fence and entered the yard behind the enemy forces. Once in the yard they ran towards the remains of Lex's convoy and located the crates of kryptonite, Alex covering Barbara as she went about setting the charges.

As she worked Alex spotted some New Era troops grab Lena and haul her away from the fighting and he quickly sighted in and put two rounds through their chests. "Those charges set yet?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Almost…Got it! We're good!" Barbara replied as she finished priming into the last charge.

"Awesome, let's grab Lena and blow this joint!" He shouted as he engaged a group of Soldiers that had heard his previous shots.

Barbara nodded and rushed over to where Lena laid on the ground and hauled her to her feet just as Alex blew the charges behind her. The blast pressure rocked them and hurt Barbara's ears but she quickly regained her focus and pushed Lena forward only to run straight into Lex, now in his power armor.

"Batgirl...Unhand my sister and I won't end you." Lex sneered as he leveled an arm canon at her, only to be distracted as Alex shot at him. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off Lex's armor and he turned his canon towards Alex and fired.

Alex's eyes widened as the shot flew towards him faster than he could evade but he was spared when Kara suddenly dropped from the sky and took the blast for him. Alex stared in awe as Kara stood unscathed between him and Lex. "Get Lena out of here, I'll deal with Lex." Kara shouted at Alex before leaping at the armored man.

"You heard her let's go!" Alex shouted as he regrouped with Barbara and led her and Lena away from the fight.

The three ran through the yard, carefully avoiding explosions and gunfire as they made their way out of the yard and into the nearby field that made up LZ One. Thankfully Watcher 1-5 was already waiting for them and Barbara quickly ushered Lena onboard. The Blackhawk then lifted into the air just as the New Era's Hind flew into the airspace and fired a rocket at the smaller craft.

1-5 quickly deployed its flares and the rocket exploded harmlessly in the air. Before the Hind could come around for another attack a missile was fired from the ground and struck the gunships fuselage, crippling its main rotor and sending it into a spiral before it crashed into a pile of garbage in the scrapyard.

"Nice shot Harley!" Alex cheered as he and Barbara rushed back to the yard to help Kara.

They arrived just as Kara delivered a powerful blow to Lex's chest, caving in the armor and knocking him to the ground where he stayed.

"Nice. Get him out of that suit and tie him up, we still gotta find Nelson and his Lieutenant." Alex ordered.

"Not if I find you first." A voice said from behind them. Alex whirled around to see Nelson and several New Era soldiers aiming their weapons at them. "You and your friends have become quite the nuisance, disrupting my operations in Gotham, destroying my site in Seattle, and now this. I must say, seeing such skill and determination almost gives me hope that we haven't lost our military prowess. Sadly, you are a minority and those in charge of you will bring you down along with the rest of the country."

"Right, cause attacking civilian targets and waging war on your own country is a great way of saving it, traitor..." Alex angrily shot back, leveling his weapon but holding fire until an opening presented itself. Nelson wasn't at all fazed by the rifle pointed his way and he paced back and forth casually as he spoke.

"I admit, civilian casualties are unfortunate but necessary. I want nothing more than to save this country, to bring us back to the leading the world, and if that means a few civilians get caught in the crossfire than so be it. Don't let my actions fool you, I love this country but we've become too reliant on the likes of her and those like her…" Nelson turned his gaze to Kara and sneered. "And we've become lazy because of it. We used to be strong, a force to be reckoned with. We defeated the Nazis, crushed Imperial Japan, drove back the Chinese, North Koreans, and NVA, outlasted the Soviets, and defeated the Iraqi's. We did that on our own! But now we can't even win the war in the Middle East because they won't let us do what we have to!" He shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Kara.

"That's insane! We haven't done anything to stop you from winning the war!" Kara protested angrily. The League had never done anything to intentionally impede the war, only asking for a reduction in collateral damage and more thorough rules of engagement to protect people.

"Really? How many Americans alone have died because of the fighting? Fighting that could have been prevented if we had just leveled the area like we did in wars past? Can you honestly stand there and say that you and your League wouldn't take arms against the United States if we had simply nuked Iraq or Afghanistan like we did Japan?"

Kara's silence was more than enough of an answer.

"You heroes say that you want to bring peace and justice to the world but you prevent us from doing it on our own and our government just rolls over and lets you do as you please. No more. Once you, your friends, and all the politicians that have failed this country are out of the picture I can bring about the peace you claim to be fighting for. The United States will be the ultimate military power and we will lead the world into a peace never seen before in the history of man!"

"Ruling through fear isn't peace and no single nation should have the power to rule the others. I understand wanting to end the war but this isn't the way and we will stop you." Alex declared defiantly.

"Perhaps, but not today…" Nelson sneered as two more Hinds rose from behind the tree line. Alex and his friends scattered as one Hind fired a rocket at them while the other went after Watcher 1-5, catching up to the Blackhawk and firing a rocket at it. The rocket struck the tail rotor and sent the helicopter into a death spiral as Captain Thomas and Lieutenant Sanders desperately tried to maintain control of the craft, but it was pointless. The craft rapidly lost altitude and disappeared over the tree line and crashed into the city. "My Lieutenant and her men are already in route to that crash, you may want to get there before she does…" Nelson said as he and his soldiers drove off in their vehicles.

 **…**

Captain Thomas groaned as he opened his eyes. The crash had been rough to say the least, after losing their tail rotor they had rapidly descended towards the small city north of the scrapyard. The helicopter had dived nose first into a plaza and had rolled onto its left side as it came screeching to a halt, the main rotors sheering off as they smashed into the dirt road. The troop compartment was a mess, miscellaneous items were thrown about and the miniguns barrels were bent beyond recognition.

The Captain checked himself over to find that his right leg was broken but other than that he was fine. He looked over to his copilot to see if she was alright but when he did he discovered that she was dead, her neck broken in the crash. There wasn't time to mourn however and he needed to know if the others in the back were alright.

"Medina! You alright back there!?" He shouted back.

"Good Sir, Lena's fine too!" The Chief Warrant Officer replied. "What about you guys!"

"My legs broke and Sanders is dead!"

"Fuck! Alright, Westbrook and his guys will come for us we just gotta hold out until they get here!" Medina replied as he readied his sidearm.

"What about me, I'm not a Soldier!?" Lena panicked.

"Here, take this…use it if you have too but stay down!" Captain Thomas told her as he passed Sander's sidearm back to her. Lena took the gun and held it close to her chest as she moved out of Medina's way.

It wasn't long before the New Era troops swooped in and began firing at the downed Blackhawk. Most of the bullets ricocheted off the hull and the crew did their best to hold of the troops with their sidearms but it wouldn't be long before they were overrun.

Medina fired his pistol at a Trooper that got to close, dropping the man as his pistols slide locked to the rear indicating he'd ran out of ammunition. He quickly ejected the spent magazine and fumbled for a replacement, slapping it home and releasing the slide to chamber a new round. The crowd of troopers outside was growing fast and he knew he'd run out of ammunition before he could shoot them all. He managed to fire off two more shots before one of the troopers got lucky and landed a round in Medina's forehead, killing the CWO instantly. Lena screamed in fright as Medina's body crumpled to the deck of the Blackhawk next to her. In her panic Lena lost her grip on her pistol and it flew out the side of the helicopter, landing in the dirt out of arms reach.

"Medina!" Captain Thomas shouted angrily. The last of his crew had just died leaving him alone to defend Lena against a horde of enemy Soldiers. He fired the last of his bullets before his gun clicked empty. Without any ammunition left he sighed in resignation and dropped the useless weapon. Seeing that the crew had stopped firing the New Era troops advanced on the Blackhawk, surrounding it completely. Captain Thomas looked across the cabin at Lena and shook his head sadly. "I'm so sorry…"

Lena cried as a trooper entered the cabin and shot the Captain before more reached in and dragged her out onto the street. She kicked and screamed at the Soldiers as they dragged her until finally they had enough and one of them knocked her on the head with his rifle. Her vision now blurry with tears she whimpered as the troops dumped her in front of a pair of boots. Lena looked up and barely made out the Lieutenant standing above her but her image was quickly replaced with the muzzle of a pistol.

The last thing Lena Luthor saw was a bright flash and then nothing…

 **…**

By the time Alex and company arrived in the city the New Era had already withdrawn. The street the Blackhawk went down in was littered with rubble, debris, and spent shell casings. The Blackhawk itself was little more than a crumpled metal wreck that had been riddled with bulletholes.

Though the New Era had withdrawn the Marines weren't the first to reach the crash site, civilians from the city were already hanging around and rummaging through the wreck for salvage.

Alex glared angrily and grabbed the first civilian he could reach and threw him to the ground, gaining the others attention. "I believe that belongs to me..." He snarled at the scavengers holding the Blackhawk's equipment. "Get the fuck away!" He shouted, firing a round from his rifle into the dirt for emphasis. The scavengers dropped whatever they were holding and ran before Alex shot them next.

With the streets now clear Alex spotted Lena's body first and rushed to her side, kneeling down to check her over only to find a single bullet wound in her head, her eyes still open in fright. The others ran over to help but Alex looked over his shoulder and shook his head as he closed Lena's eyes with his hand.

"Go check the bird…" He ordered but he already knew what they would find.

Barbara was the first to reach the downed Blackhawk but one glance inside was all she needed to know that the crew had not survived. Their bodies lay slumped and broken where they fell, discarded weapons and casings littered the deck, all covered in a thin pool of blood.

"Anything...?" Harley asked hopefully from behind her and Barbara shook her head in the same manner Alex had. Harley frowned sadly and wandered away to tell Alex.

"Kara, help me move them." Barbara asked the Kryptonian after she dropped Lex against the sidewalk. Together the two carefully pulled the crews bodies out and laid them as gently as they could outside the helicopter. Barbara hadn't known them that well, but they had always been nice to her and saved her and her friends lives before so she could at least give them some dignity.

"Overlord, this is Echo One. Watcher 1-5 and Precious Cargo are KIA. One High Value Target in custody, objectives destroyed, how copy?" Alex said into the radio as he brought Lena over and laid her next to the crew. There was a good solid minute before General Anderson responded, most likely he was having trouble processing what Alex had just told him and had to regain his composure.

 _"Overlord copies all…standby for CASEVAC, over."_

"Roger…"

 **…Mission Complete…**


	44. Chapter 44

A shot rang through the Batcave causing the bats napping above to fly away in annoyance. Near the edge of the Batcaves platform resided a lone training dummy dressed in the red, grey, and black camouflage of the New Eras soldiers, a single bullet hole perforating its chest.

Over by the Batcomputer Kara stood next to Batman as she watched Barbara assume a combat stance, transitioning her M4 from the alert to ready position and firing a quick hammer pair into the dummy's chest.

"Hmm, Sergeant Westbrook seems to have trained her well." Batman commented as he observed his former students shot placement.

"Sure, looks like it. You're okay with this? I know you have a thing about guns..." Kara replied. She didn't know what had brought about Barbara's sudden desire to shoot her weapon, from what she had gathered her girlfriend had never even touched the thing since her stint in 29 Palms. Seeing Batgirl firing a rifle was...strange.

"While I dislike the use of firearms the military has sound justification for using them and she's one of them now. I know her Sergeant has been accommodating with her personal feelings on them against his better judgement, but if she decides to change her mind and make use of the weapons provided to her then I trust her to use her best judgment."

"One of them now... Are you saying she can't serve and be Batgirl?"

"Of course not. What I mean is she's putting herself directly in harm's way and shouldn't let her obligations as Batgirl interfere with her obligations to the military and whatever that may entail. Once her term of service ends and if she is willing she is more than welcome to return as Batgirl, regardless of what she may or may not have done while serving."

"I understand. Hopefully it doesn't come down to that but after what happened with Lena and One-Five everyone's a bit on edge." Kara frowned. Everyone was either blaming themselves or moping about and when she and Barbara had retrieved her rifle from Alex's armory they had found him alone and several shots into a bottle of whiskey and they hadn't left until Harley returned to make sure he would be okay.

"That's understandable, regardless of how well you knew those men and women they were still a part of your team and their lives meant something to each of you. It's unfortunate that they died but as I'm sure the Sergeant and his advisor would tell you that is the reality of war. I tried my best to prepare Barbara for that when she first started working with me and she experienced it somewhat when Jason died, but she never experienced loss like that firsthand."

"Yeah, it was rough seeing them like that, those were people that I knew, that I fought alongside, and sure I only knew them for about a week but I could tell they were good people."

"They gave their lives protecting an innocent just like any of us would have done. I think that sometimes we forget that being a hero is more than wearing a fancy costume or having superpowers. Those Marines sacrifice should be an example of what we as heroes must be willing to do."

"I get it, I do. I think we don't give the military enough credit, we always look down on them and act superior because we aren't violent like they are but actually working with them and getting to know the men and women serving is showing me that they are just as compassionate as we are and they make do with the resources available to them. I think that if the League and the military work together we can actually bring about a positive change to the world!"

"One day maybe but we must focus on our present situation, though your enthusiasm is refreshing." Batman replied with what Kara could swear was a smile.

"Well we can't all be doom and gloom like you and miss moody over there." Kara smiled back as she nodded towards where Barbara was busy shooting.

"True enough. I have some work to, seems even with war looming criminals are still out and about causing trouble. Take care of her Kara, she'll need you in the coming days." Batman informed her as he headed for the Batmobile.

Kara watched the powerful machine start up and speed out of the cave into the night, leaving her alone with Barbara. With nothing to distract her Kara walked over to where Barbara was and sat on the edge of the workbench nearby, watching as her girlfriend shot the training dummy again.

"Hey, you feeling alright?" Despite Batman saying that she was fine, Kara was still concerned about Barbara's current behavior.

"Yeah, never better." Barbara replied dismissively.

Kara frowned, feeling hurt that Barbara wasn't talking to her. "It's just that I've never seen you act like this before, I'm really worried that all this might be getting to you…"

"I said I'm FINE!" Barbara snapped, whirling around to glare angrily at her.

"I…I'm sorry. I just…" Kara stammered, not expecting Barbara to snap at her like that.

"Just what!? Think that I'm losing it because I'm shooting a gun!? You wanna know what I think, maybe if had used this thing the other day those pilots and Lena would still be alive!" Barbara shouted, her grip tightening on the weapon as she continued to glare at Kara.

"Barbara, I know you're hurting but using that weapon won't bring them back." Kara glanced nervously at the weapon in Barbara's hands, knowing full well that it was loaded and that she shouldn't be using it in her current mood.

"You think I don't know that!? I'm not delusional Kara, but I don't have powers like you or Ivy and my fighting style isn't cut out for fighting a war! I've tried to make it work but I'm nothing but a hindrance, but I won't be anymore." Barbara said threateningly. Kara noticed that her usually vibrant green eyes were now dark and dull, as if it was someone else standing in front of her.

"Think about what you're saying, I know you don't want to start killing people." Kara tried to reason with her. Hearing her say these things and seeing the look in her eyes Kara knew she was right to be worried.

"It's not about want, it's about doing what's necessary to keep people alive! I won't have any more lives on my conscience!" Barbara continued to shout, her thumb running threateningly over her weapons safety switch. Kara noticed and knew that she had to get that weapon away from her before she did something she'd regret.

"Barbara…" Kara stepped forward and reached for the weapon before Barbara stepped out of reach.

"No! I'm doing this Kara and if you won't support me then I don't need you!" She shouted, her anger getting the better of her as she leveled the weapons muzzle with Kara's chest. Kara stared in stunned silence as her girlfriend pointed a weapon at her and she let out a pained sob as tears began to run down her face. Finally realizing what she was doing Barbara looked in horror between the weapon in her hands and the look of hurt on Kara's face before dropping the weapon, letting it fall and clatter on the ground between them. "Kara, I didn't mean that…" Barbara tried to reach out to her but Kara backed away from her.

"Barbara, how could you?" Kara knew that a bullet couldn't hurt her but that didn't stop her from sobbing as she ran to the Batcave's exit in tears.

"Kara wait!" Barbara called out but she had already disappeared into the night.

 **...**

Harley awoke to the sound of knocking on the front door. She groaned as she looked over at the clock to see that it was well past midnight. Alex was still asleep next to her, seemingly oblivious to the sound of knocking. Realizing that whoever was knocking wasn't going away and that Alex wouldn't be getting up Harley sighed as she got up and rummaged through her nightstand for her .45 pistol, just in case.

Making her way down the hall, Harley hid the pistol behind her back as she opened the door only to find a tear stricken Kara standing on the other side.

"Kara? What are you doing here, and why are you crying?" Harley asked, too tired to call her by her nickname.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late Harley but I didn't know who else to go to!" Kara sobbed.

"It's alright come in, tell me what's wrong." Harley let her inside and led her into the living area, gesturing for her to take a seat on the couch before putting her gun away. "Sorry about the gun, but you never know in Gotham, right?" Harley smiled, trying to lift the girl's spirits unsuccessfully.

Kara sat on the couch and sobbed into her hands. Harley frowned at the sight, not liking seeing the normally cheerful girl so down in the dumps. She sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Hey, what's going on?" Harley asked softly.

"It's Barbara. She was shooting in the Batcave and it's so unlike her to even touch a gun let alone shoot one, I was concerned and asked if she was alright but she just snapped at me. We got into an argument and she said that she was going to kill people, I tried to reason with her but she just got angrier and when I tried to take the gun away from her she threatened me with it!" Kara explained between sobs.

Harley couldn't believe what she was hearing. In all the time she had known Barbara, even when they were enemies, she had never threatened to kill someone no matter how badly they deserved it. That she had made the threat to her own girlfriend was even more alarming. "God…I, Kara are you ok?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to help her and she…she…" Kara sobbed into Harley's shoulder. "When I looked into her eyes it was like it wasn't even her…"

"I'm so sorry Kara, I'm sure she didn't mean it." Harley hoped that she didn't, that it was just stress getting the better of her, but either way this was serious offense. If anyone higher than her caught wind of this Barbara could find herself stripped of her rank and in the brig.

"She was so angry though…I've never seen her like that before…"

"I'm sure she's just stressed from the last mission, just give her some space to cool off and I'm sure she'll be back to normal." Harley knew it wouldn't be as simple as that, but she had to assure Kara that everything would be fine.

"But we won't. She threatened to kill me Harley! How do I move past that!?" Kara exclaimed hopelessly.

"I…I don't have an answer for you."

"But didn't Alex shoot you once? How did you get over that?" Kara asked, looking at the circular scar on Harley's right hand.

"I made a terrible mistake and he didn't know that it was me. After it was over Alex cut ties with me for four years, years that I thought he was dead. It was pure coincidence that we bumped into each other again, but he had orders to kill me and he would have been perfectly justified in doing so. If it hadn't been for Barbara talking him out of it he would have done it too. It took a long time and the support of my friends but eventually I was saved and somehow Alex and I managed to repair our friendship. Barbara made a stupid mistake like I did, but if Alex and I can fix our relationship then I know you two can." Harley assured her after explaining her own tragic tale.

"I hope so. She means a lot to me and I don't want to lose her, not over something like this."

"You won't Kara, but I think you two should spend some time apart to cool off first."

"If you think that's best. Can…can I stay here tonight? I don't have anywhere else to go…" Kara asked sadly. She had been staying at Barbara's apartment across town, but couldn't bring herself to stay there after what happened.

"Of course you can, let me get some things to make the couch." Harley smiled reassuringly before getting up to grab some spare blankets and pillows. She quickly laid out the blankets and stayed with Kara until she fell asleep before returning to bed herself. She hoped that Kara and Barbara would be alright but was even more worried about how this could affect everyone. They couldn't afford to mistrust one another with war looming on the horizon.

 **...Mission Complete…**

* * *

 **Sorry this is such a short chapter but I've had little time to work on this the past few weeks. I'll be out training pretty much the rest of the month so I won't be able to update again until at least early September, so I hope you guys stick around until then. Things are going to start escalating faster and faster from here as the heroes struggle to wage a two front war against the New Era and the coalition of Gothams criminals, along with their own internal conflicts.**

 **Let me know what you guys think, any input on how to improve this story or my writing in general is welcome. I'm also happy to answer any questions about this story.**

 **Lastly I'd like to thank everyone that's liked and reviewed this story, you guys give me the motivation to keep going.**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-StormTrooper96**


	45. Chapter 45

When Alex woke up the next morning he noticed that Harley was nowhere to be found. Figuring that she had just gotten up before him he shrugged and got out of bed, gathering his cammies and heading to the bathroom to shower and get ready for another day of work. The office was busier than usual after Watcher 1-5 was shot down, news that the Blackhawk had been shot down and its crew murdered by the New Era so close to Gotham had caused many of Gotham's youth to enlist to combat the threat growing so close to home. Likewise, many of Gotham's criminal element and small handfuls of civilians dissatisfied with the Government found themselves flocking to the New Era's side, believing in their promise to create a better world after doing away with the old.

Alex knew that the nation was in trouble, that it's populace was divided because of politics and extremist views on both sides of the spectrum resulting in violent clashes across the country but now everything was coming to a head and everyday it looked more and more like another civil war was inevitable. Alex hated the idea of having to fight the very citizens he was sworn to defend. Sure he and his peers had often joked about the prospect, how groups like Antifa would crumble when faced against the military but the New Era was forcing the conflict in that direction and it sickened him to know that their leader would lead those under his command to their deaths for some misguided belief that overthrowing the worlds governments, and killing all the worlds heroes would bring peace.

But Alex could also see what was drawing people to their side. Much as he hated to admit the military and the League had been ineffective in ending the conflict plaguing the Middle East, a conflict that was affecting the rest of the world for the worse. It seemed that there was always some new terror group ready to ravage the land. Yesterday it was Al-Queda and the Taliban, today ISIS. Not to mention the powder keg that was North Korea threatening nuclear war for the past month. The U.S. was stretched thin between combating overseas and domestic threats. They needed to defeat the New Era before others could take advantage of the country's weakened state.

Already 2nd MARDIV was making plans to occupy the East Coast under the command of General Anderson with the Secretary of Defense and Presidents approval. It would be the first time since the L.A. Riots that the Marine Corps would be deployed on American soil but on a larger scale this time.

"Gonna take a lot of bullets to solve this mess..." Alex sighed to himself as he got out of the shower and dried himself off. Of course he knew it would take more than just bullets but the simplification helped ease his mind. Leave the politics to someone else and all that.

Now showered, shaved, and dressed in his cammies Alex stepped out into the living room to find Harley and...

"Kara? What are you doing here?" He asked confused, not expecting to see her for another hour at work.

"Oh, good morning Sergeant Westbrook. I'm sorry if I'm intruding but I needed to stay somewhere last night and Harley said it was ok." Kara replied softly, her head hanging low and a sad expression on her face.

"Hey it's no problem. My doors always open for my guys. So, what, you drink to much last night or something?" He joked.

"Uhh..." Kara muttered as she looked to Harley for help.

"Yes! She just had a few too much and called me to pick her up! Don't want her flying back to Bab's place drunk and, yeah..." Harley blurted out to cover for Kara before she told him about what happened between her and Barbara.

Alex raised his brow, silently questioning the validity of Harley's response but decided to let the issue go. "If you say so..." He replied before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast but as he set about doing so there was a sudden knock at the door.

"I got it!" Harley exclaimed as she skipped her way past Alex towards the door, thankful for the distraction. Her relief was quickly dashed however as she opened the door to find Batman waiting on the other side, holding an unloaded M4 by its hand guard.

"Hello Harleen, you're looking well. Is Sergeant Westbrook in?" The Dark Knight asked.

"Uh, yeah he's home. Why don't you come on in Bats." Harley replied with a nervous smile as she stepped aside to let him in.

She followed him back to the kitchen, eyeing the weapon in his hand as she remembered Kara had told her that Barbara had dropped it and presumably left it behind in the batcave.

Alex immediately spotted the weapon and felt a surge of anger rush through him. To a Marine, leaving one's weapon somewhere unattended was considered an unforgivable sin and since he was the one keeping track of every weapon going in and out of the armory he immediately knew who that weapon belonged to. "Batman, what a surprise. Am I correct in assuming that that rifle belongs to one of my Marines?" Alex asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, but there's more than just that.I have a security video from the batcave that you need to see." Batman replied, placing the rifle on the counter before retrieving a small tablet from his utility belt.

Alex saw Harley glance at Kara who was nervously staring anywhere but towards he and Batman's direction. Alex crossed his arms and looked past Batman at the two. "Girls, are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me before I see whatever this is?" He asked.

"I don't know nothin Sarn't." Harley answered innocently. Thanks to her stint as a criminal she had learned to lie pretty well and Alex seemed to believe her as he focused on Kara.

"Kara?"

She slowly looked up at Alex and Batman who waited for her to speak. "I...Barbara and I...we got into a fight yesterday, and she...I had to leave. That's why I stayed here last night..." She answered sadly.

"Mmhmm. I don't care about your personal affairs right now, I care about why your girlfriend is leaving her weapon lying around!" He snapped, startling Kara. "You're new here so I'll be lenient this time but she knows better!"

"Sergeant! There's more to it than just that. Watch this." Batman interrupted before he could continue to go off on Kara. Alex grumbled to himself, turning away from the two women to watch whatever it was that concerned Batman so much.

He thought it would just be a video of Barbara doing something stupid but what he saw instead left him feeling furious like he had never felt before. The recording lacked audio but he could tell that Barbara and Kara seemed to be arguing about something, and that Barbara was still holding her weapon but then it seemed to escalate. Kara reached out to take the weapon only for Barbara to back up and point it at her, only to realize what she was doing and drop the weapon before Kara ran away from her and off the screen.

"Harley...You and Kara wait at the office." He ordered, now in full on Sergeant mode. The two just stood there however, wanting to stay and figure out what was going to happen. "NOW!" Alex snapped again, causing them to quickly walk out the front door.

Once they were gone Alex turned his attention back to Batman. "This is bad, you know that right?"

"I'm well aware of how it looks Sergeant. I don't know if Kara will want to press charges but Barbara needs to be held accountable for her actions."

"Oh, believe me she will be. I'll have to inform the General about this and let him decide what to do with her in the admin side."

"And you?"

"Hazing doesn't exist in the Marine Corps anymore, but I will make sure that Barbara's physical fitness is up to par if you catch my drift." Alex frowned. He had mixed feelings on the issue of hazing. On one hand it could serve as a great disciplinary tool but all to often Marines took things too far resulting in the Corp's no tolerance policy. As a junior Marine Alex had been subjected to some forms of hazing, usually if he fucked something up or forgot some of his knowledge. But he learned from it due to the simple fact that he didn't want to be punished in that way again. Pain retains as they say. And this was one situation that he felt that Barbara should be subject to the same experience.

"She's not under my command anymore Sergeant; do what you have to do to make sure she doesn't do something like this ever again." Batman told him before turning around and heading for the door. "Let me know if you need anything from me in the meantime." He said over his shoulder as he left the apartment.

Alex sighed as he leaned back against the counter and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't looking forward to the phone call he was about to make but it was out of his hands due to the situation. Reaching for his cell phone Alex scrolled through his contacts until he found General Anderson's number and hit the dial button. "Good morning Sir, I got some bad news that you should be aware of..."

 **...**

Alex drove to the RSS in silence, his talk with the General still fresh in his mind. Upon hearing what Barbara had done the General had been even more furious than Alex was and threatened to have Barbara Dishonorably Discharged and sent to a federal prison for jeopardizing their alliance with the Justice League so soon after it was solidified. Thankfully he had managed to talk him down from such a course of action, citing Barbara's past contributions to Gotham and the Military and that her actions, while damning, were brought on by some form of psychological stress. The General had relented but informed Alex that he would be flying up from Quantico to personally award Barbara a Non-Judicial Punishment and that she would not be promoted come September. He also told Alex that he would turn a blind eye to anything that could be defined as hazing between now and his arrival. While the General would be taking care of Barbara's NJP Alex still intended to make her pay for losing track of her rifle.

Finally arriving at the office Alex parked outside and retrieved Barbara's rifle from the truck before heading inside. Harley and Kara were already there waiting for him as instructed as well as Ivy but there was no sign of Barbara.

"Ivy come with me, Harley find out where Barbara is and get her down her now." He ordered as he walked through the office.

"What's going on Sergeant? Those two won't tell me anything." Ivy asked as she caught up with Alex.

They stopped at a supply closet where Alex grabbed a shovel before continuing through the office and towards the back lot. "You'll find out once Barbara get's here." He answered as they reached the back lot. "Take this and strip it down for me will you." Alex ordered as he passed of Barbara's rifle.

"Uh, sure thing..." Ivy replied as Alex took the shovel towards a large patch of dirt and started digging several small holes. "Wait, you're not going to..?" Realization hit her as she separated the upper and lower receiver and removed the bolt, buffer, and buffer spring.

"Bury that? Yeah I am, and I'll give you three guesses as to who's weapon that is." Alex answered as Ivy joined him at the dirt pit.

"Well It's not mine and Harley's has a grenade launcher. Kara doesn't have a weapon and you have an IAR, so this is Baby Bat's? What did she do?"

"She left it behind in the Batcave yesterday."

"What? That's...You'd think she'd know better?"

"Yeah, well I thought so to but apparently I didn't push that enough. So you can guess how surprised I was when Batman showed up at my door this morning holding that."

"Well I guess she'll learn after digging this up." Ivy said as she handed Alex the weapons parts one by one, watching as he set them in the holes he'd dug and covered them with a layer of dirt.

"Oh this isn't even the start of it. You'll figure out the rest once she get's here." Alex told her. He finished covering the last part and stood up just as Harley popped her head out through the back door.

"Barbara's on her way, should be here in five minutes." She informed them.

"Good. Ivy take them back to your place and learn them some knowledge. I'll take care of Barbara myself..."

 **...**

When Barbara arrived at the office she noticed that it was unusually quiet. Harley, Ivy, and Kara were nowhere to be found, much to her relief. Barbara couldn't face Kara yet after what she had done and she was glad that her girlfriend was here, if she could even call her that anymore. She looked around again and noticed that Alex wasn't at his desk and she grew instantly worried that something was up. Suddenly her phone buzzed and she checked it to find a text from Alex.

 _"Come outback when you get here. We need to talk..."_

Barbara reread the message a second time as she felt her nerves shake. She had never been in trouble with him before, but if he knew what she did she could only guess at what was going to happen. When she messed up under Batman that issue was resolved immediately and a lesson was learned but in the military it wasn't that simple. Well, actually it was, but she was aware that as her NCOIC Alex could make her life a living hell for however long he saw fit and she was obligated to obey.

She slowly headed down the hall, passing by a freshly used shovel leaning against the storeroom door. As she walked through the back door and out onto the back lot she found Alex setting on crate, a .50 CAL receiver resting in his lap.

"Uh, morning Sergeant..." She greeted nervously.

"Is it? Because my morning was going pretty well until Batman showed up at my door. Care to explain why?" Barbara knew he was asking rhetorically but spoke up anyways.

"I...Uh, you see what happened was..." Barbara stammered nervously. The look that he was giving her told her that Batman had definitely told him what happened.

"Shut... up." He told her, setting the fifty receiver on the crate as he stood up. "Are you out of your damn mind! What the fuck were you thinking!?" He suddenly shouted, catching Barbara off guard.

"I..." She attempted to explain but was quickly cut off.

"You weren't fucking thinking were you!? Never in my years have I ever had one of my Marines threaten to shoot one of their brothers, let alone someone they care about!"

"Sergeant I didn't mean..."

"I don't give a FUCK if you meant to or not! You still did! I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with you! You've been damn near a model Marine since I met you but you just screwed it all up with one stupid decision! How the fuck am I supposed to trust you to have my back when you threaten one of our own!?"

"I know I fucked up Sergeant..."

"That's an understatement! You should know that the General is flying up here this weekend and you are being NJP'd for this." He informed her, his voice lowering as he had already made his point.

"I understand Sergeant."

"Don't think that's the end of it. There's still the matter of you losing your weapon." Alex reminded her.

Barbara felt her heart jump at that, remembering how she had dropped the weapon. "Oh shit! I know where it's at I swear!" She exclaimed, knowing that she'd be in more trouble if her weapon didn't show up.

"Oh don't worry about that. I have it, but you're going to have to earn it back the hard way." Alex informed her.

"What...what do I have to do?" She asked nervously.

"Well, since you can't keep track of your own weapon I guess you'll have to keep track of this one." He answered, nodding his head towards the Fifty receiver behind him.

"I don't understand?" She replied as she looked between him and the machine gun.

"How much does that receiver weigh?" Alex asked, seemingly out of blue.

"Uh, eighty-four pounds." She answered, confused as to why that was relevant to their current situation.

"Hmm, eighty-four pounds huh? That's not that heavy. Drop blouse and hold it above your head."

"What?"

"Did I fucking stutter? Hold it above your head!" He snapped. Barbara quickly removed her woodland cover and blouse, leaving her in her combat boots, woodland trousers, and green skivy shirt and grabbed the heavy receiver and hefted it above her head, locking her arms out. "Now, you lost an M4 right? So I think forty squats should be sufficient enough to get it back." Alex told her, but something told Barbara it wouldn't be as simple as that.

She set about doing her first squat when Alex stopped her. "I know we say Squat's aye aye Sergeant..."

"Squat's aye aye Sergeant." Barbara repeated before starting again, already the weight of the Fifty was starting to weigh on her arms. She completed her first squat only to be stopped again.

"What no volume? Start over."

"Squats aye aye Sergeant!" She repeated louder.

"Still can't hear you!" Alex said again, holding his hand to his ear.

"Squats aye aye Sergeant!"

"You know I've been blown up a few times before, my hearing isn't that good!"

 **"Squats Aye Aye Sergeant!"** Barbara shouted as loud as she could, straining under the weight of the large gun she held above her. She managed to quickly bust out five before she was stopped again.

"Count out loud!" Alex instructed.

"Aye Sergeant! One! Two! Three! Four! Five!" She quickly counted only to be stopped again.

"Oh I guess I said single count right?"

Barbara looked up in disbelief at Alex from where she was squatting, the Fifty causing her arms to start buckling as sweat began to run down her face.

"Aye Sergeant! One two three, One. One two three, Two. One two three, Three..." She counted out her three-counts as Alex watched, an amused expression on his face.

"This is what you asked..."

"FOUR!" Barbara cried out, her grasp on the Fifty slipping.

"You drop my baby and it'll get much worse." Alex informed her as he noticed her straining. He was being very generous with this punishment. Back in the day his Corporal's would have made him run up and down the hills of Camp Pendleton carrying that receiver, stopping every so often to do some form of exercise similar to what he was having Barbara do.

Not wanting to risk dropping the gun Barbara paused to readjust her grip before continuing, finally reaching forty when in reality she had done close to ninety. Her arms shook and burned as she set the gun back down on its crate and as she went to wipe the sweat from her brow her arms protested in pain. "Can I... have my weapon... back now... Sergeant?" She panted.

"Hmm, I think you've earned the right to find it." He replied.

"Find...it?" She questioned. Then she remembered the shovel she had passed in the hall. She looked over to the large dirt pit and saw freshly dug dirt layered on top, a CMD (Compact Metal Detector) laying on the edge of the pit.

She groaned internally as she realized what she had to do and approached the pit picking up the CMD, unfolding and extending it. Once the detector was switched on she began sweeping it over the dirt, her already sore arm burning in protest with each swing of the stick. After five minutes of sweeping the detector finally beeped. Digging out the spot with her hands Barbara uncovered just the bolt of her M4.

"Well, find the rest of it." Alex instructed. Stuffing the bolt into her cargo pocket Barbara continued sweeping, finding her weapon piece by piece over the course of an hour.

"I...I have my weapon Sergeant..." She informed him once she had dug up the final piece of her weapon.

Alex looked up from his phone and saw that Barbara was drenched in sweat, her skivy shirt sticking to her body and her hair unruly. Looking like she was going to collapse at any moment Alex decided that she had had enough and got up to help walk her into some shade.

"It would seem you have. What have we learned today?" He asked as he sat her down against the building.

"To not lose track of my weapon, and to not point my weapon at anything I don't intend to shoot." She replied quietly.

"Good. Barbara I don't like having to fuck with you this way. I'm your friend but I'm also your Sergeant and if that means I have to take disciplinary action against you then so be it. Understand?"

"I get it Sergeant. I'm sorry I had to put you in this position."

"I appreciate that but I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"You're right, I just can't face Kara yet."

"You're going to have to sooner or later..."

 **...**

The weekend came and soon Barbara found herself standing in front of the General as he read off what articles she was being charged under as her Peers, Bruce, Tim, and Kara watched from the side. Barbara was beyond shamed to have her former mentor and fellow sidekick watch her be tried for pulling a gun on her girlfriend. Speaking of her girlfriend this was the first time Barbara had seen Kara since that night in the Batcave, but Kara didn't look like her normally happy self and she was avoiding all eye contact with Barbara to her dismay. Kara hadn't pressed charges personally but the General wanted to NJP her regardless, charging her with Article 80: Attempt, Article 92: Failure to obey order or regulation, and Article 134: General Article.

She had plead guilty to all articles and was currently listening to the General award her punishment.

"Private First Class Gordon, for your actions, which have dishonored our prestigious Corps, I award you reduction of one pay grade, forfeiture of half months pay for two months, and sixty days restriction to be specified by your NCOIC. Sergeant Westbrook, please remove her chevrons."

"Aye aye Sir." Alex replied, stepping out of formation and removing Barbara's PFC chevrons from her collar. He pocketed the chevrons, saluted the General, and returned to formation.

"Private Gordon, I want to make it clear to you that any further misconduct will result in processing you for administrative separation with a minimum of an other than honorable discharge. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good." He replied before addressing everyone. "Ladies, Gentlemen. Private Gordon has made a terrible mistake, but we will not allow it to define her. We are all a part of the same team in the same fight. As such we must pick her up and help her when she falls."

Barbara was slightly relieved that she hadn't been completely written off, and she would do her best to earn back the trust she had broken. After a few more words the General dismissed them, everyone going they're separate ways. Alex had stuck around to inform her of her restrictions, she was to be confined to her home on weekends and off duty hours, requiring an escort if she wanted to go out anywhere. In addition she would have to make hourly check ins with him or Ivy over the phone. After he left Barbara gathered her things and headed for the door when she noticed Kara sitting on the couch in the main office.

"Your Sergeant is a good man, fighting for you like he did." Kara said, her gaze focused on the ground in front of her. Alex had spoken up for her during the proceedings, reminding General Anderson of all the good she'd done and how this was all a one time thing. She also knew that he had talked the General out of separating her dishonorably, a discharge that would essentially ruin her life indefinitely.

Barbara hesitantly sat next to her and sighed. "Yeah, he is. Kara I...I've been meaning to talk to you, I just couldn't face you after what I did..."

"You hurt me a lot Barbara, more than any kryptonite ever could..." Kara looked up and Barbara could see the sadness in her eyes.

"Kara I never meant to...I am so sorry that I hurt you like that. You deserve so much better than me. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to speak to me again."

"You're right. I do deserve better..." Kara replied and Barbara felt as if a knife was being driven through her heart at her words.

"I get it. You don't have to say anymore." Barbara interrupted, turning away so Kara wouldn't see her cry as she began to stand, but before she could leave she felt a hand grip her wrist and she looked down to see Kara's hand holding her in place.

"But I still love you Barbara, and I realize that you only hurt me because you were hurting yourself. And it's because I love you that I want to help you, even when you don't want to help yourself." Kara said as Barbara sat back down.

"You...You love me?" Barbara was stunned. They had been friends for years and dating for little over a month. She had always felt something between them but wasn't sure what it was. Until now.

"Of course I do. You're my best friend and so much more. Yeah you hurt me but that wound will heal with time. Time that I want to spend with you." Kara answered, moving her hand from Barbara's arm to grip the other girls hand.

Barbara loved the feeling of Kara's hand in hers and she smiled softly as she looked into Kara's eyes. "Kara, I don't deserve you. I never will. But I'm yours for as long as you'll have me. And I promise you I'll never do anything like that ever again." She was crying now as her feelings overcame her.

"Kara, I...I love you too."

 **...Mission Complete...**

 **No Marines were hazed in the writing of this chapter**


	46. Chapter 46

Alex watched as the last of his latest batch of Poolees left the office after another PT session. Most of them had just been recruited a month ago but due to the demand for bodies they'd be shipping out for Paris Island within the next month. Once the last of them left he spun around in his chair and scooted over to the couches that made up the waiting area where his team lounged in their PT clothes as they watched the news on the TV.

"Alright guys, I got our schedule for the near future. As you know the Divisions planning on occupying the East Coast and we've been tasked to support them within the Gotham AO. Routes need to be identified and cleared in order to establish supply lines and help with logistics. In addition command has identified several areas outside of Gotham that they want us to scout out and report back on for a Forward Operating Base. That's all coming up in the later half of the month and needs to be completed come October. In the meantime we'll be conducting some remedial training in preparation of these operations."

"I've never seen military training before. I know I'm just assigned to your team Sergeant but do you think I could participate?" Kara asked eagerly.

"Yeah, of course you can. Maybe you'll learn some good stuff that you can take back to the League. Now, obviously our route recon will be mounted, we'll be tagging along with a National Guard unit and utilizing their vehicles, but who here other than me has a Humvee license?" Alex asked and as he expected no one other than him did.

"You need a license for those things? Ain't they just like normal cars, but with armor and a gun turret?" Harley asked with a confused look from where she sat next to Ivy.

"Yeah, well the military doesn't want you driving them without a license specifically for that vehicle." Alex briefly explained.

"So why can't you drive it if you have a license?"

"Because I need to be able to direct the rest of you and I can't do that if I'm focused on driving. So guess what you'll all be doing this week!"

"Getting Humvee licenses?"

"Yup. You'll be meeting with Sergeant Jones across the street, he'll take you guys over to the Guards hangout. Ivy, make sure everyone's there at zero seven in cammies with flak and kevlar."

"Sounds good, what else is going on?" Ivy asked after jotting down the time and place in her notes.

"Let's see, we got a week long field op out at that DOD site outside of Gotham. Nothing too serious, we'll shoot some rifles and machineguns, toss some grenades, get some demo in."

"Oh man, I love grenades!" Harley exclaimed excitedly, startling Ivy as she jumped out of her seat.

"Great, cause you'll throw so many of them that you'll never want to see one again." Alex grinned. "By the way Harley, your being promoted tomorrow once you get secured for the day, so start thinking of who you want to promote you and find some PFC chevrons."

"Promotion? Me? Holy shit guys! I'm getting promoted!" Harley squealed in delight.

Alex shook his head and laughed at her excitement. "Crazy right? Alright, I got nothing else for you guys. Ivy you're in charge of them for duration of the Humvee course."

"Oh goody..." Ivy replied with a roll of her eyes before getting up and heading for the door. "Come on Baby Bat it's time to go home." She told Barbara as she passed by her. As part of Barbara's restriction Ivy had been designated to drive her to and from work and be responsible for making sure she did her hourly check ins.

Barbara sighed and looked at Kara longingly before getting up to join Ivy. "Goodnight Kara, I'll see you in the morning." Due to her being on restriction Kara wasn't allowed to stay with her past eight o'clock PM so Kara remained staying with Alex and Harley.

"Yeah, see you then Barbara." Kara replied with a small smile before the two redheads left together.

Once they left Alex scooted himself back behind his desk and began organizing and putting away loose papers on his desk. As he filed them away and turned back around he noticed that Harley was gone, probably off to the bathroom to change over, and that Kara was sitting alone starring blankly at the TV. He shrugged and turned back to his computer, checking over some documents and saving them. He looked back over to Kara and saw that she hadn't moved at all. Alex frowned and decided to see if she was alright.

"Supergirl you alright over there? You ain't exactly looking super right now." He called out.

Kara jumped slightly upon hearing her name and quickly whirled around to look at Alex. "Oh! Uh, I'm fine Sergeant, thank you. How are you?" She replied quickly.

"All this paperwork makes me want to suck start my rifle...I'm a damn Combat Engineer not some Admin fuck!" He said, laughing at his own expense. "Oh how I miss being with an actual platoon."

"Do you miss you're old friends Sergeant?"

"Eh, I didn't really have that many before I left the Battalion. My best friend, Daniels, we grew up in the Marine Corps together. From Bootcamp to MCT to Engineer School and then the Fleet we were together. Man, we used to get in all kinds of trouble as Junior Marines. I remember this one time we got so drunk in the barracks that we decided to go out and toss beer cans off the third deck balcony and try to hit some squirrels on the first deck. Well the OOD came by and started yelling at us and he started coming up the stairs after Daniels called him a boot ass bitch, so we booked it and started running through the barracks but somehow we ended up on the wrong deck. Anyways the OOD never found us and by some stroke of luck we ended up back in our room only to continue drinking until we passed out." Alex laughed at the memory and saw that A small smile had appeared on Kara's face. "I miss that guy..."

"Sounds like you guys were pretty good friends. Have you talked to him since you left you're old unit?" She asked.

Alex's smile vanished at the question. "He's dead..." he quietly replied.

Kara's eye's widened upon hearing what he said and she quickly apologized. "Oh, I'm so sorry Sergeant, I didn't realize..."

"It's alright Kara. You couldn't have known. He was killed in my first deployment to Afghanistan by an IED strike. Sometimes I still see that blast when I sleep at night. God knows Harley's waken me up from that nightmare more than once." Alex muttered.

"I understand how you feel Sergeant. All my friends, family, my whole world is gone...All I have left is my cousin and the few friends I've made here on Earth."

"Damn, that's...I don't know. Say's a lot about how strong you are though, I feel that most people would've broke going through what you did."

"It hasn't been easy that's for sure. Barbara...She's been a good friend to me, just being around her helped me forget about Krypton. I never thought about her being the same gender, or even that we're a different species but I fell in love with her. I never expected her to return my feelings, if it hadn't been for Harley I never would've worked up the nerve to admit them in the first place, but I am beyond thankful that she did. Even after our...incident...I still love her."

"Good for you two, fixing things so quickly. Wish I'd have been able to be so forgiving back in the day. Wasted so many years being angry at the world, hell I even stayed in for the chance to die in combat. I figured that dying would be better than living when all my friends were either dead or losing their damn minds. Wasn't exactly in my right mind myself come to think of it, but hey, instead of dying I ended up here in Gotham, made new friends and got over my issues. Even managed to bring Harley back from the dark side. So I guess you can say it all worked out in the end, well not the end but you know what I mean."

"Yeah I get you Sergeant. I just hope that Barbara and I can be as happy as you and Harley seem to be."

"That's why you gotta enjoy every moment with her, which I know is hard with her being on restriction and all, but make the most of the time you guys have. I wish that I could sit here and tell you that we'll all make it out of this alive but that's not something I can. But enough of that talk, I've wasted enough of your time as is. Go on and get outta here."

"Alright I'll see you and Harley back at home, and Sergeant, thanks for the talk." Kara smiled as she headed out the door.

"That's what I'm here for..." Alex shouted after her.

As she left Harley came back down the hall in her civilian wear and headed straight for the door.

"See ya at home Alex, I gotta go run some errands real quick!" She told him before leaving as well, leaving Alex alone in the office.

"Yep leave me alone with this paperwork..." Alex grumbled to himself.

 **...**

After leaving the recruitment office Harley made the trip through town up to the Batsignal, lighting it and casting Batman's symbol onto the clouds that seemed to permanently hover over Gotham. Harley paced back and forth impatiently as she waited but it didn't take long before she felt eyes on the back of her head.

"Ha, not gonna get the drop on me this time Bats!" She exclaimed as she whirled around to face the Dark Knight.

"Perhaps I'm starting to get a bit rusty? Is there something you need Harleen?"

"Um, yeah actually. I never got to thank you for helping me. All that time I was running with Joker you always tried to help me, saying that I was better than that. I never really listened to you back then, I mean I heard what you were saying but I just didn't believe in myself that I could be anything more than what I was. But you never gave up on me, even though I gave you, Bab's, and Bird Boy nothing but trouble. And then you helped Alex save me from Joker...I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you guys."

"I knew that you were never evil, misguided and foolish maybe, but not evil. Through all those years I could see that you hated being with Joker, that you were forcing yourself to be with him. It was a shame to see you being manipulated into going along with his schemes but I'm glad that you finally saw sense. You're doing really well for yourself now, I can see that. How is the military suiting you?"

"Oh, it's been a blast so far. I get to spend all day with my friends fighting bad guys and they're even having my put my psychiatry degree to use! Plus I get to play around with all their cool equipment! Tomorrow I get to learn how to drive a Humvee!"

"Sounds like you're having a lot of fun Harleen."

"Yeah it's great. But I got a favor to ask ya, if that's alright?"

"It doesn't hurt to ask."

"So, tomorrow after the Humvee course I'm getting promoted and I was wondering if you could be there to promote me. You've played such a big role in my life, trying to help me and all over the years that I thought that you'd want to see me make something of the life I've been granted." Harley explained and she nervously awaited his answer.

Batman rubbed his chin in thought as he studied Harley and thought over her request. After what seemed like forever he finally lowered his hand and smiled. "I'd be honored to be there and promote you Harleen." He answered.

Harley let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and grinned. "You would? Oh thank you Bats! It'll be at four PM at the recruitment office, I'll let Alex know you're coming! Oh, and tell Bird Boy that he can come too! Thanks again Bats!" Harley exclaimed happily before flipping off the roof and landing gracefully on the street below, leaving Batman with a slight grin on his face.

 **...**

"Oh my God that was so borrrrrinnnggg..." Harley muttered as she, Barbara, Ivy, and Kara exited a makeshift classroom on the National Guards base of operations. After being dropped off by Sergeant Jones they had been introduced to their instructor, a Guardsman by the name of Staff Sergeant Wilks, before being subjected to a several hour long power point class on the Humvee and its specifications.

"Boring but informative." Ivy replied as she flipped through the notes she had taken while they waited for Staff Sergeant Wilks to bring a Humvee around for them to drive.

"Wait, you actually took notes?" The class had been so dry that Harley hadn't even bothered to write anything worthwhile.

"Uh, yes? Didn't you?"

"Uh, sure..." Harley replied as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Really? Let me see." Ivy snatched Harley's notebook out of her hand and begun flipping through it. "Ugh, gross Harley! That's disgusting!" She exclaimed upon finding that Harley had just doodled pictures of dick's across the page and quickly handed the book back.

"Oh come on Red! We've all seen a dick before!" Harley laughed as she playfully nudged Ivy and earned a small laugh from Barbara. She continued to laugh as Ivy sighed and rolled her eyes before she noticed Kara by herself. "What's wrong Blondie, you don't think dicks are funny?" Harley redirected her teasing to the other blonde.

"Well sure I guess. I mean I've never..." Kara began to say before Harley cut her off.

"Never seen a dick? Well you do like girls so it makes sense. Bet you're a hit with all the ladies back in National City though, am I right?" Harley laughed at Kara's expense.

"What!? No! I'm...I've never...been intimate with someone before..." Kara blushed furiously.

"You're a virgin? Supergirl is a virgin? How?" Harley asked, bewildered that somehow one of the most powerful women on the planet was still a virgin.

"Is it that hard to believe? I just never met anyone that I wanted to...do that...with." Kara explained, turning to Barbara for help.

"Alright, that's enough Harley. Kara's a virgin, so what? She's still a hero." Barbara said, much to Kara's relief.

"Yeah you're right Babs." Harley replied before turning back to Kara. "Sorry for the teasing Blondie. Hey, when you do decide to lose it make sure its with someone special ok?" She said before winking at Barbara.

Kara nodded just as an up-armored Humvee with bright yellow student driver plates hanging off the bumpers pulled up and Staff Sergeant Wilks stepped out. "Alright Marines, who wants to get behind the wheel first?" He asked with a cheery smile.

"Oh oh, me first!" Harley quickly threw on her flak and kevlar before jumping into the drivers seat. "Come on Red, let's see how many chicks we can pick up in this bad boy!" She called out to Ivy as the Humvee roared to life. Ivy rolled her eyes again as she grabbed her own kit and made her way over and climbed into the back seat as Staff Sergeant Wilks hopped into the passenger seat to instruct Harley.

"We'll be back in about thirty minutes alright!" The Staff Sergeant called out to Barbara and Kara as Harley peeled the Humvee out of the lot and headed towards the busy streets of Gotham.

Seeing no point in standing around Barbara set her flak down against the nearby wall and sat against it before Kara joined her. The two sat together in silence for a few minutes before Barbara broke the silence.

"Soooo, you're really a virgin?" Barbara asked, causing Kara to groan in annoyance.

"UGH, yes Barbara I am still virgin! Does it really matter that much?" Kara asked, her annoyance evident in her voice.

"No, not at all! I'm uh, actually kinda relieved..." Barbara admitted.

"Why?" Kara questioned, clearly uncomfortable with the subject of her sex life, or lack there of.

"Well, I've never been with a woman before and I was kinda afraid that if we did, you know...have sex...I wouldn't know what to do and disappoint you. I mean I've been talking with Harley and Ivy about how to do it and well, this is embarrassing to admit, I've started watching some uh, erotic videos...just to see how it works though! I swear!" She blurted out, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"Barbara I know what porn is and I don't care if you watch it! Really though, I've just been waiting for that one special person to share my first time with and besides it's not like I have a lot of time to be thinking about that kind of stuff between helping National City and working with the Justice League." Kara explained.

"So, do you think you've met someone special yet?" Barbara smiled innocently.

Kara smiled as she shook her head. "Fishing for compliments Barbara? You know I think the world of you and I think that...I would like to, you know..." Kara blushed as she ran her eyes over Barbara.

Barbara felt a warmth rise in her as Kara admired her. "Wow, well I'm glad that you feel that way about me Kara, but there's no need to rush into bed. Whenever you're ready I'll be there to hopefully not disappoint you..."

Kara smiled softly and laughed at Barbara's nervousness. "I wouldn't worry about that too much." She replied, leaning forward to rest her forehead against Barbara's. Kara was about to lean in more and kiss her when suddenly the Humvee raced raced around the corner and screeched to a halt in front of them.

"Hey pretty ladies! How much for a good time!?" Harley shouted from the drivers window. The two quickly separated, their faces red with embarrassment. "Oh, were you two having a moment? My bad!" Harley laughed as she hopped out of the Humvee and turned to Staff Sergeant Wilks. "So how'd I do Staff Sarn't?"

"Well, we didn't die and the vehicle is still in one piece..." The Staff Sergeant answered as he checked off some boxes on his clipboard. "Just drive like you did today for the rest of the week and you'll pass. Alright, give me another driver."

Barbara stood up and smiled down at Kara while offering her hand. "Would the lady care for a ride?"

Kara shook her head and laughed. "With you? Wouldn't miss it for the world..."

 **...**

"To all who shall see these presents, greeting: Know Ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity and abilities of Harleen F. Quinzel, I do promote this Marine a Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps to rank as such from the first day of September, two thousand and seventeen. This appointee will therefore carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the grade to which appointed by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto pertaining. And I do strictly charge and require all personnel of lesser grade to render obedience to appropriate orders. And this appointee is to observe and follow such orders and directions as may be given time to time by superiors acting according to the rules and articles governing the discipline of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Given under my hand at Special Tasks Group Echo this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seventeen. Signed, Robert E. Anderson, General, USMC, Commanding."

Harley flinched as Alex snapped her promotion warrant shut. Even though she had only been a Private for four months Harley's date of rank had been backdated to when she had originally started working with DOD back in March and making her eligible for promotion early. She had been excitedly awaiting for this all day and was all she could think about while learning to drive Humvee's, much to her instructors annoyance. And now here she was, getting promoted in front of all her friends.

"Who would you like to promote you?" Alex asked.

"Batman."

"Very well. Batman, if you would."

Batman walked over and stood next to Harley. He acknowledged Alex with a nod as he took the chevrons that Harley held out for him and pinned them to the collar of her uniform.

"Congratulations Harleen. You've come a long way since we pulled you out of that burning warehouse. Declared sane, became a Marine, and now fighting to defend the people of this country from evil. I'm proud of the person you've become and I hope that you will continue to do great things." He told her as he finished pinning on her new rank.

"Thanks Bats. That really means a lot coming from you. I only hope I can live up to your expectations." She replied with a smile. Batman nodded at her and Alex again before returning to the others.

Once Batman was back Alex handed over Harley's promotion warrant and shook her hand. "Congrats, you've really earned this Harley. The General says he's sorry he can't be here but he sends his congrats as well. You're an amazing woman and an outstanding Marine. Keep doing what you're doing, alright?" Alex told her before lowering his voice so only she could hear. "We'll have to celebrate in private back at home later, yeah?"

Harley smiled happily and blushed at the thought. "Ooh, Sergeant that sounds an awful lot like fraternization." She teased back.

Alex just smirked at her before coming back to attention. "POST!" Harley snapped back to attention and executed a left face. "MARCH!" Harley couldn't shake the grin she had on her face as she marched back to rejoin the others and receive more words of congratulation.

After a few minutes Alex finally rounded everyone up to pass along some word. "Alright, alright I think we've congratulated her enough. We're doing some good shit out here, you're all getting licensed this week and then next week we're gonna get some good training in before we're finally boots on the ground. Divisions gonna be here end of October and it's our job to ensure that they get here without any complications from the enemy. Everything we've done up tell now will seem like child's play once they get here, I expect us to be tasked out frequently and be thrown right into the thick of the fighting so take this upcoming training seriously, you're lives will depend on it. Now I'm not going to lie to you guys, the fighting will be deadly. Divisions already estimating casualty rates to be high within the opening days and that rate will continue to grow thanks to the urban environment. So take these last few weeks to enjoy yourselves, but keep you're heads on straight and don't get into trouble. I need everyone of you ready for the fight."

"And we're ready to kick some ass!" Harley shouted enthusiastically.

Alex nodded his head and grinned. "Fuck yeah. Get you're affairs in order Marines, you have the week."

 **...Mission Complete...**

* * *

 **Its getting crazy out there guys, 58 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in a massive shooting in Las Vegas that can only be described as a despicable act of terrorism. I hope that as Americans we can all forget about our bullshit politics and come together in this time of tragedy and be there for one another.**

 **Whether it be overseas or on our own soil we will not fall to terrorism.**

 **Stay safe out there ladies and gents...**

 **Semper Fidelis**


	47. Chapter 47

The DOD testing facility hidden miles away from Gotham was usually a quiet location tucked away in woods, seemingly forgotten by even its government owner's, or rather it was. A single Humvee towing a covered trailer raced across the worn dirt trails, blasting music and kicking up dust and disturbing the relative peacefulness of the area. The armored vehicle sped over a small bump, catching air and landing with a slight crunch as it landed.

Inside the passenger's seat Alex gripped onto the Humvees frame for dear life as Harley whooped in glee. "Watch the turn!" Alex shouted over the loud music coming from the portable speaker as Harley drifted the vehicle around a sharp turn, causing the other passengers to jerk around in their seats. "How the hell did they give you a license!?" He wondered out loud.

"Don't worry about It, we're fine, aren't we? Tell him we're fine Red!" She gleefully shouted up to Ivy.

Ivy had been unfortunate enough to be standing in the gunner's turret the whole ride and as such had felt every bump and been thrown around in all directions thanks to Harley's driving. "I think I'm going to be sick…" She replied, craning her neck over the turret shield and releasing her stomachs contents onto the road.

"Aw, she's fine!" Harley dismissed as she pressed the Humvee's pedal to the floor and accelerated along a long stretch of road and doing little to avoid any bumps.

"Sergeant?" Alex turned after feeling a tap on his shoulder and found Barbara looking at him with a look of desperation. "Are we almost there? I gotta pee really bad!" She urgently pleaded.

They had been driving pretty much all day and the sun was already starting to set but they were still a few miles away from their designated training area and Alex wanted to get there and get their bivouac set up before it was completely dark. "We're like several miles out, can you hold it?" He asked her, hoping that she could wait it out so they wouldn't have to make a pit stop.

"No, I gotta go like right now!" Barbara warned as she squirmed in her seat.

They couldn't stop to pull over until they made it to their training area so instead Alex rummaged around under his seat until he found what he was looking for, an empty Gatorade bottle, and passed it back to Barbara. After being stuck for hours in route clearance convoys Alex had learned to always keep a piss bottle handy for occasions such as this. "Sorry Bab's, you're gonna have to make do with this." He apologized.

"But…" Barbara protested as she stared at the empty bottle.

"Do you wanna piss or not!" He told her as Harley laughed in amusement. "Just turn yourself away from everyone. Trust me, no one wants to see that shit either." He said as he directed his attention back out the windshield. Fortunately, the Humvee lacked the interior rearview mirror so Alex wouldn't accidently catch a peek of her.

"I think I'll wait…" Barbara sighed in anguish as she dropped the bottle onto the floor.

After suffering through another half hour of Harley's driving they finally turned off the dirt road into a large clearing. Across the road from the FOB sat a large space of clear land that served as an all in one rifle, machinegun, and demo range that they would be spending most of the week in. As soon as Harley parked the Humvee Barbara immediately bolted from her seat and ran behind a large tree to relieve herself while Ivy removed her Kevlar helmet and dizzily climbed down from the turret and occupied the recently vacated seat to rest. Alex switched off the speaker before climbing out and stretching his legs.

"Agh, thank God." He muttered as he stretched himself out before turning to address the others. "Hey, suns almost down guys. Grab your packs from the trunk and get set up for the night. I guess Bab's has already marked the piss tree so go do your business over there." He nodded over to the tree Barbara was walking back from, a relieved expression on her face. "Ivy, set up a fire watch roster, reveille at zero six."

"I'll get on that as soon as my head stops spinning." Ivy groaned from the backseat of the Humvee.

"Hey, cheer up Marines. It's already bed time and all we're doing tomorrow is shooting guns all day. Easy shit, right?" Alex said as everyone laid out their sleeping bags. Barbara and Kara had set up next to each other on the ground next to the Humvee and Harley was laying hers out on the Humvee's hood, using the heat from the engine to keep warm during the night, while Ivy was already starting to nod off in her seat as Alex took the watch roster from her. After reading the rotation he approached Kara as she finished laying out her stuff. "Kara, you have first watch. Twenty-two to balls and then you're waking up Barbara." He told her as he handed the list to her.

"Oh, sure no problem. Do I have to do anything?" She asked as she read the list for herself.

"Naw, just roam around the bivouac and keep an eye on the ammo trailer. Here, you'll need this." Alex unslung his IAR and handed it to her. Kara reluctantly took the weapon and he could tell she was uneasy about it. "There should be some security rounds in the trailer. Anyone but me tries to touch that ammo, you stop them. Got it?"

"Surely I don't need to go straight to…this?" Kara asked, nodding to the weapon in her hands.

"Oh, no. Use your escalation of force procedures before you use that thing. Look, I don't expect you to actually use that thing. We're the only ones out here and those douchebags know better than to mess with the ammo." He replied, nodding his head towards the others. "I get it, you're Supergirl, but you also said you wanted to participate in this training, so guess what? You're going to conduct your post, and this training, as if you were a Marine, understood?"

"Perfectly, Sergeant."

"Outstanding." Alex gave her a small smile before leaving to set up his own sleeping system. "Oh, and don't fuck up my weapon…" He called over his shoulder.

"Goodnight Sergeant." Kara smiled before sitting down on the Humvee trailers tailgate. She found the magazine of security rounds and loaded it into Alex's IAR but kept the chamber clear before deploying the bipod and setting the weapon down in the trailer within reach behind her. She wasn't a fan of guns, especially after Barbara's incident, but Alex was right. She had agreed to participate in the training and would have to put aside her own discomfort.

It wasn't long before Kara could hear everyone else snoring. She quietly stepped onto the ground and slung Alex's rifle on her back before she began to walk around and check on everyone. She stopped in front of where she and Barbara had set up, finding her girlfriend curled up in her bag peacefully asleep. Kara smiled as she looked at Barbara's sleeping form and wished that she could be bundled up next to her, even though it would be just under four hours until they would be. She worried about Barbara still, even though she hadn't done anything since her last incident Kara had a feeling that Barbara was being pushed out of her comfort zone too far and too fast which was stressing her out and causing her mental state to deteriorate due to the constant conflict of her morals. Barbara had to find a balance between her role as Batgirl and as a Marine, a task which was proving more difficult by the day, and while she acted like inner conflict didn't bother her Kara knew that it was only a matter of time before she completely snapped. But Kara had promised herself and Barbara that she would be there to help her when she needed it.

After admiring her girlfriend for a while longer Kara shifted her gaze inside the Humvee where Ivy had seemingly passed out, too tired to move to a more comfortable position or change out of her cammies, and Kara noticed the older woman shiver as a gust of wind blew through the air. She may have been enemies with Poison Ivy before, but sense Kara began working with her she had begun to realize that the woman wasn't as evil as she had perceived her to be. In fact, she found Ivy to be quite motherly, always looking out for the wellbeing of everyone else even if she had a snide way of doing it. Kara had been surprised to learn that Ivy had developed an immunity to toxins that she had then practically given to the military for distribution among its troops, eliminating the need for gas masks. It was a clear sign that the woman was serious about changing her ways and Kara couldn't help but admire that. As she thought to herself Kara noticed Ivy shiver again. She may be a strong woman but Kara doubted that Ivy was immune to hypothermia so she walked around to the trunk and found Ivy's blanket, using it to gently cover the woman and prevent her from freezing in the middle of the night. Kara smiled to herself as Ivy curled up into the blanket before continuing her round.

Walking to the front of the Humvee Kara saw Alex had set up on the hood next to Harley, his arm wrapped around her waist and a content smile on the blonde's face. It was cute really, Alex was always so focused on work and Harley was, well…Harley, but it was nice to see the two in such a loving way. Kara couldn't help but feel a bit of sadness though, given his position as Squad Leader Alex faced the possibility of ordering the woman he loved to her death, however unintentional. She didn't envy his position and couldn't imagine having that responsibility on her shoulders. Sure, she was constantly putting herself in danger for the sake of others but Kara had never been forced into that kind of leadership role before. She figured it must be hard for the two, only being able to act like a couple in their free time, but if it placed a strain on their relationship Kara couldn't tell, but based on the content looks on the twos sleeping faces she guessed that they were doing just fine.

Seeing that everyone was safe and secure Kara wandered back over to the ammo trailer and unslung Alex's IAR before hoping up to set on the tailgate, settling in for the next hour and a half before she had to wake Barbara up.

 **…**

 **" _BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"_**

Kara plugged her ears as the Fifty Cal mounted on the Humvee's turret boomed, its report earsplitting to her sensitive hearing. They had driven across the road in the morning and after Alex gave a quick safety brief begun getting practice on their weapon systems. Currently they were practicing firing the heavy machine gun while it was mounted on a moving vehicle, Ivy was up manning the gun and Harley was driving the Humvee back and forth at a constant speed while Alex and Barbara rode in the passenger seats. As for Kara, she had been delegated to watch the ammo trailer again after they unhooked it from the Humvee.

Kara was impressed by Ivy's shooting. Several steel silhouette targets shaped like trucks rested close to five-hundred yards downrange, but even at that distance Kara could see the rounds Ivy was firing spark against the targets as they impacted. After several more bursts, Ivy fired off the last round in her belt and cleared out the weapon before climbing down from the turret and exiting the vehicle before making her way towards Kara, removing her Kevlar as she did so.

As Ivy walked up to Kara she held her Kevlar out towards her. "Sergeant say's you're up Kara, you'll need this." She said as Kara took the helmet. She studied the helmet quickly before putting it on and buckling the chin strap as Ivy removed her plate carrier and handed it to her as well. "We get that you're bulletproof and all, but range regulations and all say that you have to wear body armor." Ivy explained as Kara took the armor from her.

"Makes sense, although it looks kinda funny on me…" Kara mentioned as she looked down at herself. The brown plate carrier and woodland covered helmet was a sharp contrast to the red and blue suit she wore underneath.

Ivy smiled slightly as she looked at the odd sight. "Hey, all I'm saying is that my suit was already black and green but they still force me to wear this." Ivy replied as she tugged on the woodland Marine Corps issued fatigues and combat boots.

Kara looked her over quickly, noting how the baggy uniform hung off her body. But somehow Ivy still looked drop dead gorgeous in the generally unflattering combat utility uniform. "Ah come on Ivy, you make anything look good." Kara smiled.

Ivy offered her a smile as she leaned against the trailer. "Very true. Now go on, be on your way." She said with a wave of her hand.

Kara nodded and walked over to the Humvee. The inside looked like a complete mess now, spent shell casings and links littered the seats and floor and Kara crinkled her nose at the smell of gunpowder. She smiled at Barbara who was in the backseat before climbing up into the gunner's turret. She waited a moment before Alex hoped up and crouched on the roof beside the turret with a fresh can of ammo.

"Alright, alright. You ready for this shit or what!?" He asked cheerily.

Kara couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm as she nodded her head. "Yeah, looks like fun!"

"Oh, it is. You know I got my first kill with this gun? Back in Afghan we were on a mounted patrol in MRAPS, and I was manning the Fifty. Well we're going along our route when all of a sudden, this Taliban dickhead pops up behind a berm a couple hundred meters away. So, this guy has an RPG and he shoots it at our convoy, luckily since it was an RPG the rocket spiraled and hit the ground a hundred meters from us but all I'm thinking is like 'this dickhead just shot a rocket at me!' Crazy, right? Anyways my Corporal shouts up to me, 'Westbrook waste that motherfucker!' And I'm just like alright, got it Corporal. So, I fire off this burst and I see the dude get ripped in half, his legs fall over and his torso goes flying over the berm, funniest thing I've ever seen. I mean, yeah, that's a shitty way to go, but he shouldn't have been a terrorist douchebag. Sucks to suck, right?" He laughed at the memory.

"Uh, yeah, that really does suck. Good thing we're on this end of the gun, huh?" Kara laughed nervously.

"Yeah it really is. Alright this is what we're gonna do. You're gonna clear out the weapon, load the weapon, engage all the downrange targets, and then clear out the weapon again. Make sense? Don't worry I'm gonna be up here to walk you through it. First things first, ensure the weapon is on safe. It's that little toggle under the trigger, white is safe, red is dead." Alex instructed as Kara looked down at the safety toggle and found that it was already set to safe. "Next, we're gonna underhand grip the charging handle and pull it to the rear then open up the feed way cover."

Kara grabbed the handle protruding from the right side and pulled it as far back as it would go with her right hand while using her left hand to open the top of the gun.

"Cool, now inspect the chamber and make sure it's clear of any brass or debris. Visually and manually inspect. Now this is important, do NOT release that charging handle while your hands in the gun, if that bolt comes home it'll take your fingers off." Kara grimaced at the thought of losing her fingers, but she felt around the inside of the gun for debris anyways.

"It's clear." She reported as she pulled her now carbon covered hand out of the gun.

"Awesome. Alright, send the bolt home." Kara released her grip on the handle and watched as the bolt snapped shut inside the gun. As soon as Kara let the bolt go Alex opened up the ammo can and started pulling out the large belt of Fifty Cal rounds, and passed the end over to Kara. "I hope you can figure out for yourself which way the pointy ends go. Load them onto the feedway and close the cover." He told her as he moved the ammo can onto the inside lip of the turret. Kara did as he instructed, placing the belt inside the gun and snapping the cover shut over them to lock them into place. "Ok, we're almost ready to fire. Now when making a weapon ready to fire you always want to make sure its pointed in a safe direction, in this case the downrange area. As you can see the Humvee is faced parallel with the range and our turret is pointed ninety degrees to the right of the front bumper. If you look down into the turret ring there should be a crank, you'll use that to rotate the turret as the Humvee makes its U-turns to ensure this gun remains pointed downrange, got it?"

"Got it Sergeant." Kara replied as she felt around for the crank he mentioned and gave it an experimental twist, rotating the turret just slightly.

"Alright, well I'm ready whenever you are. Rack that charging handle twice whenever you're ready, but don't take the weapon off safe until I tell you two. Once we get going I'll call out your targets."

Kara took a breath before gripping the charging handle again. She racked it back once and saw the belt feeding into the gun shift as the rounds moved into place. After another rack of the handle the gun was fully loaded and Alex called down to Harley to start the vehicle. The Humvee roared to life and began moving forward at a slow pace.

"You ready!?" Alex shouted over the engine, to which Kara gave a brief nod. "Alright, hostile convoy at three o'clock, five-zero-zero yards. At the sustained rate fire on my command…FIRE!"

Kara gripped the dual handles on the back of the gun and waited until she saw the barrel line up with one of the steel targets downrange. After another second, she flipped the safety to fire and gave the trigger an experimental press with her thumbs. Kara jumped slightly as the initial burst startled her, the rounds missing their mark by several feet. She had never fired a gun in her life and the feeling of the gun recoiling, the loudness of its report was completely new to her. Sure, she had been shot more times than she'd like to remember but it was a completely different feeling being on the opposite end of the gun.

Kara frowned slightly as she let go of the handles and looked over at Alex. "I don't like it Sergeant." She told him.

Alex called down for Harley to stop the vehicle before turning back to Kara. "What's wrong? It's just some target practice."

"I don't know, I guess that I just don't like guns. I mean you guys having them is fine, I've only ever seen you use yours for good, but I think I've just seen them in the wrong hands to often to be one-hundred percent comfortable with them." Kara explained to him.

"Hey, I completely understand were you're coming from. If I was shot at as often as you I'd probably never want to see one again either. But hey, you still got out of your comfort zone and at least made the attempt, I respect that. And I'm always open to alleviate any concerns you might have about weapons, or if for some reason you come around and want to try again just let me know, alright?" Alex replied warmly as he smiled.

"Thank you, Sergeant, I appreciate the understanding." Kara smiled as she climbed up over the turret shield to stand on the roof. As she did she heard the sound of another vehicle pulling up and she and Alex both turned to see another Humvee pull up beside the ammo trailer. "I thought we were the only ones out here?" Kara asked him but Alex looked just as confused as she did.

"Yeah me too. Probably just range control, Ivy can deal with them." Alex dismissed as he and Kara hopped off the roof. They looked over to that two Guardsmen had emerged from the Humvee and were talking with Ivy. The three talked for a moment before Ivy began to lead them over to them.

As they got closer Alex saw the Guardsmen's rank, a Major and Master Sergeant, and immediately felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Sergeant, these gentlemen would like a word with you. Privately." Ivy warned him as she walked over. "Come along Kara." Ivy grabbed Kara's wrist and pulled her away, leaving Alex with the two Guardsmen.

Alex looked over to make sure that the others were a good distance away before turning to greet the two. "Good morning Gentlemen, how can I help you?" He offered with a nervous smile.

"Sorry to interrupt your training Sergeant, but we have a situation we could use you and your squads help with." The Major replied as he held out a report to him. Alex looked over the report briefly and then back up at the Major. "Gather your things and drop your trailer, you leave immediately."

"Yes Sir…"

 **…**

Some hours later they were rolling with a convoy of National Guard Humvees down the trails outside Gotham. According to the report Alex had been given another patrol consisting of four Humvees and two M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks had failed to report in somewhere in or around Slaughter Swamp several hours ago and the National Guard was worried that it wasn't as simple as all the convoys comm equipment failing at once. The prevailing theory was that they had run into contact with a New Era patrol, but there had been no sightings of any of their Hind gunships which was the only thing that they knew of in their arsenal that could destroy an Abrams. In short, the Guard wanted their tanks or whatever had disabled them found.

" _Gun One passing checkpoint five, Over."_

" _Gun Two passing checkpoint five."_

" _Gun Three passing CP five."_

"Gun Four passing checkpoint five." Barbara said into the radio as Harley followed behind the other Humvees. Looking over Alex's shoulder she saw that they were now passing into Slaughter Swamp.

After the four remaining Humvees checked in Barbara heard the Convoy Commander come over the radio again. _"Copy all. Be advised we do not have any accurate information on what's out there, break…All personnel go condition one if you haven't already, Over."_

"What's condition one?" Kara asked from the seat next her. Barbara answered by simply loading a full magazine into her M4 and racking the charging handle, just as Ivy did the same with the Fifty Cal up in the gunner's turret and Alex with his IAR up front. "You're not gonna use that are you!?" Kara whispered, a concerned look on her face.

"I'd rather not, but I don't exactly have any of my Bat tech on me." Barbara replied, remembering what had happened the last time she held her weapon. During his last visit to Gotham, General Anderson had mandated that in preparation for the Division's arrival all Department of Defense personnel were to standardize all gear and equipment, meaning that Barbara was no longer permitted to go running around in her Batgirl uniform while on duty, limiting her, Alex, Harley, and Ivy to the woodland MCCUU (Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform).

The only indication that she was Batgirl was now on the identification patch on the front of her plate carrier. Along with her name, branch of service, blood type, and serial number, the Bat logo was stitched dead center of the patch. The others had similar stitching on their patches, Alex had the Engineer Castle, Harley a trio of diamonds, and Ivy with a plant leaf. It was a small thing really, but it helped remind Barbara that even in her new uniform she was still Batgirl. Since Kara wasn't a member of the DOD but instead attached to it she was still allowed to wear and use what she wanted even if it made her the perfect sniper bait.

"Ugh, can these guys go any slower!?" Harley suddenly whined. Being stuck in the middle of the convoy vastly restricted the speed at which she was allowed to drive, much to everyone else's relief.

"Probably for the best." Alex replied before looking over his shoulder at Barbara. "Did you use the little girl's room before we left this time?" He joked at her expense.

Barbara felt her cheeks heat up with embarrassment as she replied. "Y-yeah, I went…" She heard Harley snicker up from the driver's seat as she answered. "What!? Like you've never had to pee on a road trip before!" She exclaimed, causing Harley to laugh louder.

"Oh, believe me I have, but seeing you squirm yesterday was hilarious! OW!" Harley yelped as Ivy kicked her shoulder from up in the gunner's stand and causing Barbara to laugh at her expense now.

"Oops, my bad…" Ivy shouted down at them.

Alex laughed at his squad's antics before deciding to get them focused. "Alright, knock it off guys. Keep on the lookout for that convoy."

Heeding her Sergeant's words Barbara focused her attention back outside the window and scanned the swampy environment for anything out of the ordinary. Thanks to the detective training from Bruce and the IED detection skills Alex had taught her Barbara knew to examine her environments baseline and look for anything that didn't fit. About another mile into Slaughter Swamp she found her disturbance, a rather big one. Several yards off the road lay one of the missing Abrams, its hull breached in several locations and the barrel of its main gun bent beyond recognition.

"Convoy halt! Gun Four has eyes on one of the Abrams at our two o'clock." She said over the radio. The Humvees stopped in their tracks as the convoy commander relayed what Barbara had said and ordered dismounts to go and investigate.

"Barbara, Kara with me! Ivy stay on the gun and provide security, Harley keep the truck running!" Alex ordered as he stepped out of the Humvee and transitioned his IAR to the alert carry.

Barbara pushed open her door and hopped out, transitioning her rifle to the same carry as Alex as she and Kara followed him and the Guardsmen through the swamp towards the Abram. As they waded through the marshy water the vegetation began to grow dense so Barbara fixed a bayonet to the end of her rifle to hack her way through to the tank. Upon reaching the tank they learned that the damage was much worse. The tanks hull breaches weren't caused by any rocket, rather it looked like it was pried open. Along with the tank they also found the four missing Humvees, all damaged in the same manner of the tank and tossed away into the swamp. There were obvious signs of a fight, spent shell casings and discarded weapons were scattered about the area but there were no signs of the Guardsmen themselves or the second Abrams.

"Weird. All this destruction but no bodies and where the hell is that tank?" Alex wondered aloud as he inspected the damage to the first tank.

"Uh, guys…I think I found it." Kara told them as she pointed behind them. Everyone looked to where she was pointing to find the second tank tangled up near the top of the trees, it's hull crumpled as if it had been swatted away.

"What the hell…" Barbara whispered, staring in disbelief. "That tank weighs several tons! There's no way it could just be thrown up there!" She exclaimed just as her radio screeched to life.

" _Barbara it's Ivy! I just felt a massive disturbance in the Green, you need to get everyone out of there now!"_

No sooner had she heard Ivy's warning then there was a monstrous roar emitted from the swamp. Suddenly one of the destroyed Humvees was lifted into the air and thrown towards the group, scattering them as it slammed into the ground. In its original place stood a large deformed humanoid. It stood nearly ten feet high and its dark green skin was covered in large, bulbous growths. The creatures left arm was twisted into something resembling a large club, explaining the dents in the tanks armor, and its right hand was deformed into large claws. But the most disturbing thing was its face. It was twisted into a look of pure agony and rage.

"Take it down men!" The Convoy Commander ordered as he leveled his rifle and fired at the creature as it advanced. It wasn't long before everyone else began firing as well, but the creature seemed to just absorb the bullets. Suddenly Kara blasted the creature with her laser vision, stunning the creature momentarily but it quickly recovered and roared in anger before a vine shot out of its right hand and wrapped around Kara and smashed her into the ground.

"It can control plants!" A Guardsmen shouted as he shot at some vines slithering along the ground towards him.

"What do we do!?" Another one shouted as the creature swept away a group of his friends.

The Guardsmen were in a panic as nothing they did seemed to affect the creature. As if this monster wasn't enough Barbara began to hear gunshots coming from behind the creature. Avoiding one of the creature's vines Barbara sighted in with her rifle and spotted a large group of New Era troops advancing behind the creature. So, they were responsible for this after all…

"Sergeant, NE troops behind it!" She shouted to Alex.

"Roger! Guardsmen, focus on the troopers and let Supergirl deal with that thing!" Alex relayed to the remaining Guardsmen as Kara freed herself from the creature's vine and leapt at it.

Barbara joined the Guardsmen behind the destroyed Humvees and sighted in on the troopers. The two groups began engaging in a firefight as Kara kept the creature at bay, just barely. Not wanting to use her weapon but also not willingly to abandon her allies Barbara set her rifle to semi-auto and took carefully aimed potshots at the NE troopers to keep their heads down and prevent them from firing at the Guardsmen.

Bullets flew all around as the battle raged and troopers and Guardsmen alike fell as Kara battled the massive monstrosity that had attacked the previous convoy but thanks to Barbara keeping the trooper's heads down the Guardsmen were able to flank and overwhelm the troopers, leaving only the creature to deal with. Barbara watched as Kara threw punch after punch at the creature but still it remained unfazed. Then she remembered the tank suspended in the trees and thought of an idea.

"Kara, I'm going to lead it under the that tank! Once it's there cut the tank down on top of it!" She shouted to her.

Kara landed another hit to the creature before turning to her and nodding. Barbara then broke cover and fired at the creature to get its attention. The creature turned to her and roared in anger before chasing after her. Barbara ran as fast as she could, leading the creature right where she wanted it. She ran under the tank and stopped just past it, turning to see the creature stumble towards her, right under the suspended tank. It stopped just a few feet away from her and stared down at her with pure hatred in its eyes, but Barbara just smirked back at it and flashed it her middle finger. The creature roared in response but before it could make a move Kara cut the tank free with her laser vision, sending it crashing down straight onto the beast. The creature may have been strong enough to put the tank up there in the first place, but the tank itself was also extremely heavy and fifty-seven tons of metal came crashing down right on the creature's head, crushing it under the weight of the tank.

Everyone gathered around the slain creature as Barbara poked it with the tip of her bayonet to make sure it was well and truly dead before breaking off to tend to the wounded. "What the hell is this thing?" Barbara wondered as she withdrew her bayonet and examined the green goo that came with it.

"I have a hunch." Alex replied as he examined the creature himself. "When we were in Seattle, Ivy and I found the lab where she was experimented on. It was occupied by the New Era and after clearing them out we learned that they had sent whatever knowledge there was to be found off to their headquarters. We assumed that they would try to recreate the conditions used to make Ivy what she is, but clearly they altered the process and this…thing was made." He explained to them.

"Whatever that thing was I hope that it was the only one. I haven't been thrown around like that in a while." Kara huffed. "Nothing I was doing seemed to work. Could you imagine if…" Kara's words were cut off by a single gunshot as a round impacted with her shoulder.

Barbara saw Kara take the hit and turned to see where the shot came from to find a New Era trooper pointing a pistol at the Kryptonian. As she looked at the trooper and the smoking gun that he had used to shoot her girlfriend Barbara felt something snap inside her and before anyone could stop her she charged the trooper, the bayonet on the end of her rifle pointed straight for his chest. The trooper froze in place as she rushed him, unable to move as Barbara drove the bayonet between his ribs, piercing his heart as she tackled him to the ground. But she didn't stop there, this man had shot Kara so she repaid the favor in kind, setting her rifle to burst and pulling the trigger until it clicked empty, and once the bullets ran out she withdrew the bayonet and stabbed it into his chest over and over again until it was nothing more than a bloody mess, all the while the trooper's eyes wide in pure shock as Barbara stabbed her bayonet into him repeatedly.

In the distance Barbara could hear someone calling her name but she didn't stop stabbing the now dead trooper until she felt a pair of hand wrap around her and pull her off the body. She squirmed against Kara's grasp as Alex rushed over and took her weapon, both of them pleading with her to calm down before Kara dragged her to the ground and held her.

"Barbara stop I'm alright!" Kara pleaded as she restrained her. Barbara looked over her shoulder to see that Kara was indeed alright and felt the murderous feeling inside her die down. She ceased her struggling and just let Kara hold her as she broke down in tears, seeing clearly what she had just done. "Shh, it's ok Barbara, its ok…" Kara soothed.

"Oh God, I…I killed him…I don't…I feel so wrong…" Barbara sobbed loudly as she turned and buried her face in Kara's shoulder.

"It's ok Barbara, we're going to get you help, alright?" Kara assured her while looking up at Alex for help.

Alex nodded and crouched down to place a comforting hand on Barbara's back. "Yeah, we'll get you help Barbara. Don't worry…" He told her as the Guardsmen began to gather around to see what the commotion was. "Come on let's get you outta here." He then helped Kara pick her up and carry her back to the Humvees, all the while Barbara kept sobbing and apologizing for what she had done.

Barbara didn't know what had come over her and the murderous feeling that she felt consume her scared her. She had lost complete control of herself and mauled a man to death without a second thought. One thing was for sure though, something was dangerously wrong with her psyche and she needed to get it fixed before she hurt anyone else…

 **…Mission Complete…**

 **On field op, cannot update until November timeframe, patience is appreciated**


	48. Chapter 48

Alex sighed as he set Barbara's flak jacket in his sink and picked up a scuzz brush, running it under the water before using it to scrub the dried blood off the soiled armor. He had already finished wiping the blood off of Barbara's carbine and had thrown her fatigues in the wash while the others had taken her to the bathroom to help wash blood off of her. As he scrubbed away Alex grumbled to himself. While he was definitely concerned about his friend's wellbeing a small part of him thought that Barbara was just being a little bitch about the whole thing.

He had told her several times that war was ugly and that she'd most likely have to do things that would make her uncomfortable, so the notion that she could make it through a war without bloodshed was an unrealistic expectation that she had set for herself. But Alex couldn't blame her for that, her mindset that killing was evil had been programmed into her for several years thanks to working with Batman. Alex had thought he had corrected it by easing her into the combat mindset required of her, but it would seem he had failed in that regard as well.

Barbara was already a hero in her own right, and aside from her sudden anger issues, an outstanding Marine, but as Alex scrubbed the last bit of blood off of her flak he began to wonder if serving with the military was becoming detrimental to her health as she had never been prone to the violent, emotional outbursts before she agreed to serve. Setting the freshly cleaned flak down to dry Alex resolved to have Barbara stay in the rear for the time being so she could sort herself out, and failing that have her discharged. He'd hate to have to do it, but if it was in her best interest he would without hesitation.

His musings were then interrupted by the dryer buzzing and Alex walked over to the laundry and removed Barbara's fatigues and thoroughly inspected them to make sure all traces of blood were gone. Satisfied that they were clean Alex returned to the living room and set them down with the rest of Barbara's things just as Harley and Ivy emerged from the bathroom and joined him.

"How's she doing?" Alex asked as he sat down on the couch and stretched out.

"She's freaked out by the whole thing, but other than that she's fine physically." Harley frowned. "However, I think it'd be best if you gave her some time off to cope."

"I was just thinking the same thing actually. This has been trying for all of us, so I think some RnR is in order, besides the Divisions passing through Maryland now and should enter New Jersey within the week. Obviously, we still gotta be ready to respond to anything but I don't think the General will mind." Alex replied in agreement.

"Oh, glad we're on the same page then!" Harley exclaimed, a small smile replacing her frown.

Alex smiled back at her when Ivy cleared her throat to get his attention. "That's all well and good Sergeant but I'd like to have Barbara stay with me for the time being. Like Harley said she's freaked out right now and I want to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't hurt herself." She asked with a worried look in her eyes.

"Hmm, that is actually a good point Ivy. Go ahead and take her, Harley and I will plan something for all of us to get together. Last thing we need right now is for Barbara to think she's alone." Alex replied, knowing that leaving Barbara to her own devices in her current state was a potential disaster waiting to happen.

"Thank you, Sergeant. I'll go tell her now." Ivy said as she gathered Barbara's things and returned to the bathroom to collect her.

"Aw, Red's so cute when she's in her Mom mode." Harley commented happily as she watched her friend disappear back into the bathroom.

"Yeah, you'd know all about that wouldn't you? Ivy told me bout how she used to have to babysit your ass constantly." Alex replied with a small laugh.

Harley just stared down at him smirked. "Oh yeah, she definitely knew how to take care of my ass, among other things..." She winked before walking towards the bedroom.

"I bet, wait... what? What does that mean!? Harley!" Alex shouted after her as he jumped up and followed behind her.

 **…**

Ivy lugged the last of Barbara's things upstairs and into the guestroom of her home and set them down by the closet. "There, that's everything. There should be some food in the fridge downstairs and the bathroom is right across the hall." Ivy turned and smiled at Barbara who sat cross-legged on the guest bed.

"Thanks for taking me in Ivy…I really appreciate it." Barbara replied, a faint smile on her face.

"It's no trouble really. I had to babysit Harley all the time remember?" Ivy replied, earning a laugh from the younger girl.

"Yeah, I bet she was a handful, wasn't she?"

"You have no idea… Thankfully she's regained her common sense, but I still worry about her sometimes." Ivy grumbled.

"Alex was right, you really are a Mom." Barbara giggled.

"I am not a Mom!" Ivy exclaimed as she glared at her, resulting in Barbara's giggling turning into laughter. Upon seeing her laugh Ivy's features softened and she shook her head in amusement. "Alright, maybe I am a bit of a Mom sometimes." She sighed in defeat.

Barbara wiped her eyes as her laughing subsided. "More like all the time. Seriously though, I think you'd be a good Mom Ivy."

"Would that I could, my ability to have a child was taken from me decades ago." Ivy frowned as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, I had no idea. Sorry for bringing it up…" Barbara apologized.

Ivy just dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Don't be, who needs children when I have all of you kids to worry about." She replied, turning to smile softly at her. "But if I were to have a child, I'd hope for them to be like you…" Ivy admitted quietly. She had never been good at admitting her feelings to people, but given the circumstances Ivy felt that Barbara should know what she thought of her.

Barbara's eyes widened slightly at the admission and she couldn't help the smile that came to her. "You mean that?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course I do, you're intelligent, resourceful, caring. In a lot of ways, I see myself in you, or rather what I could have been." Ivy trailed off as thoughts about the life that was taken from her bubbled to the surface of her mind. She'd have stuck to botany for sure, and she probably wouldn't be as critical as she was now, but that life would always remain a 'what if.'

"What are you talking about? You're all those things Ivy! Sure, you've made some mistakes, but you only did so because you cared so much about the Earth, and look at everything you've done recently, you're a hero Ivy!" Barbara exclaimed, breaking Ivy from her thoughts.

"I wouldn't go that far…" Ivy replied, shifting her gaze from Barbara to the floor. Sure, she had done a lot of good but at the same time she doubted that barely a year of service paid back all the wrong she'd done over the years. Not to say that Ivy didn't regret her past actions, as Barbara said she'd done them with good intention, but her intentions were unimportant to how people perceived her actions.

"Remember what Alex told you in Two-Nine? Nobody asks to be a hero, it just turns out that way. I'd say you'd definitely turned out a hero." Barbara assured her.

"Well, coming from a Bat I guess that does mean something."

"Right, I don't know if I can claim that title anymore…" Barbara began to say but Ivy wasn't going to hear any of it as she jumped fully onto the bed and bored her eyes into Barbara's.

"Nonsense! You just said that I made mistakes because I cared. Well guess what? You only killed that trooper because he shot Kara and you care so much about her that seeing her hurt angered you. Sure, you could have controlled yourself more, but your reaction was completely justified and no one who was there will question your motives. None of us think you're crazy and Kara still loves you, so stop feeling sorry for yourself and get over it!" Ivy snapped. Harley and Kara had already tried the soft approach to no avail, so Ivy decided that some tough love was in order.

"But…" Barbara stammered, caught off guard by Ivy's sudden outburst.

"No buts! Alex, General Anderson, Captain Thomas and his crew, Harley, your Father! Countless others! They've all killed people! Does that make them lesser heroes than those self righteous assholes in tights on the Justice League!?" She argued, daring the younger girl to disagree.

"No…"

"Exactly! They've all killed but they're not murderers and neither are you! The world isn't black and white like the League likes to believe and it needs people like Alex and your Father who use their best judgement to make the hard choices the League refuses to." Ivy pressed on. "You killed someone in combat during a time of war, that doesn't make you a murderer and you're not crazy."

"Ok, Ivy, I get what you're trying to say…and maybe you're right. Maybe I am being too hard on myself but what I did goes against everything being a Bat stands for." Barbara replied, earning a scoff from Ivy.

"You mean those rules that Batman imposes on all his wards? Barbara, you are your own person and it's past time for you to decide what ethics you follow and who you want to be, not what Batman wants you too be."

"That's the thing though, I don't know who I am anymore! Am I Batgirl? Private Gordon? Or should I just drop everything and be Barbara Gordon?"

"Have you considered that you could be all three?" Ivy asked her as she stood up and crossed the room to the door, turning to face Barbara once again as she reached it. "I am Doctor Pamela Isley, a Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps, and known to many as the villain Poison Ivy. I have all those titles but none of them define who I am. I choose who I want to be and that is something you need to figure out soon." She said before stepping into the hall and shutting the door behind her. Ivy massaged her temple as she headed for her own room, hoping that she had given enough to Barbara to think about.

 **…**

Deep beneath the Appalachians in an underground bunker New Era troops scurried about, readying vehicles and checking weapon systems as Selina Kyle leaned against a bulkhead and watched, taking mental note of everything they were preparing to report to General Anderson. Earning the trust of their leader, General Nelson, had been easy enough once she proved herself by acquiring items to boost his campaign. But while he seemed to trust her his Lieutenant did not, and she often dispatched her on tasks that seemed sure to get her killed such as raiding military outposts in broad daylight, and while she was allied with the DOD, to maintain her cover her allegiance was only known to General Anderson and his team in Gotham, resulting in her being shot at more than once by Army Soldiers.

"About time, isn't it Kyle?" Selina huffed in annoyance as she turned to find the Lieutenant behind her with her arms crossed, watching her troopers load several 155mm artillery canons onto helicopters for transport. "I've grown tired of fighting from the shadows like a coward." The woman said as she turned her attention back to Selina. "Time to show the world what we can really do."

"If you say so." Selina replied uninterested. She really hated this woman and her brutal methods. She had been responsible for digging up Ivy's past and altering the process that made her to create horrid abominations out captured Soldiers, not to mention that she had ruthlessly murdered several of Selina's old peers in the past few months. If it wasn't necessary to maintain her cover, Selina would have clawed the woman's eyes out ages ago.

"Whatever, I'm not here to chat anyways. Nelson wants you to return to Gotham and tell Penguin to have the gangs ready for our assault by Monday. U.S. Forces will be here within the week and we need to control the city before they do." The Lieutenant informed her, handing her an envelope.

"Is that all? No suicide mission this time?" Selina spat as she snatched the envelope out of her hand and stashed it in one of the pouches on her suit.

"Aw, still upset over that last raid? Suck it up Kyle." The Lieutenant shot back before smiling cruelly. "But since you asked, yes, there is another matter I need attended to. As I'm sure you know our ally, Floyd Lawton, was captured last year. We need him back to deal with that band of losers running around Gotham. He's being held in Belle Reve Penitentiary in Louisiana. Once you've delivered our orders to Penguin take a platoon and break Lawton out, by any means necessary…"

 **…Mission Complete...**


	49. Chapter 49

"…And that's the story of how we found Daniels passed out half naked in a portashitter with a stack of pornos in the middle of the night." Alex finished retelling one of his tales from Afghanistan. Harley had come up with the idea to go on a double date with Barbara and Kara while they waited for the Division to arrive, which is how they found themselves at a café in the theatre district.

"God damn, dude musta really had to rub one out, causing all that trouble an all." Harley replied humorously.

"Hey man, there aint much to do out there other than eat, sleep, and beat off in a portashitter. But yeah, Staff Sergeant made us burn all the pornos after that, fuckin asshole…" Alex grumbled.

"Um, as interesting as that story was Alex I don't think the other guests appreciated it so much…" Kara informed him, pointing out how the other patrons were shooting dirty looks in their direction.

"Pfft, pussies…" Alex disregarded them with a wave of his hand before turning back to his friends. "But I guess you're right." He sighed before Harley clapped her hands together and grinned at Kara.

"But, since we're on the subject of naughty things…" She leaned forward, resting her chin on the palms of her hands and smirked. "Babsy help you lose your V-card yet?"

Barbara spat out the juice she'd been drinking and began coughing as Alex slapped his forehead but couldn't help the amused grin as he watched Kara's face flush with embarrassment as she looked back between Harley and an equally stunned Barbara.

"Wha…I…we…NO!" Kara hissed back as she struggled to compose herself.

"Aw, why not? I mean have you even seen your girlfriend?" Harley asked dumbfounded. "Like, don't take this the wrong way or anything but I totally would."

"You got a thing for redheads don't you Harls?" Alex quirked an eyebrow up at her.

"Huh, suppose I do…" Harley muttered to herself.

"If I wake up with red hair tomorrow morning I'm throwing out all your microwave pizzas." He replied with a laugh before turning back to his friends. "And don't listen to her, it'll happen when it happens. Believe me that's one thing you don't wanna rush." He told them.

"Thanks Alex. It's not like I haven't thought about it, but with everything going on I didn't think it was an appropriate time to take that step in our relationship." Kara explained, more to Barbara than to anyone else.

"No, it's my fault. I've been having so many personnel issues to work through recently that I haven't been putting much effort into our relationship and I'm so sorry for that Kara." Barbara apologized quietly, making brief eye contact with Kara.

Alex frowned as he studied his friend, noticing that she was much less cheery than she had been when they had first met. Thankfully since she had started staying with Ivy she seemed to have accepted what happened in Slaughter Swamp, but he suspected that she was just putting on a brave face for the rest of them.

"You got nothing to be sorry for Barbara, we all have our demons and you're strong enough to fight whatever's haunting you." He assured her. "Just don't try to drown them in alcohol like I do." Alex smiled.

Barbara chuckled quietly at the joke before smiling. "Yeah, I haven't gotten to that point yet, but you guys don't need to worry about me, I'm fine, better than fine actually. I think that all the anger and other built up emotions I'd gathered over the years were finally released when I pulled that trigger. It's like you said Alex, I didn't enjoy it, but that soldier tried to hurt Kara…" She trailed off as she took Kara's hand and smiled at her lovingly.

"Awww, you two are so cute together!" Harley exclaimed cheerily.

Alex was about to agree when he noticed Kara's head perk up as if she was hearing something. "Guys, somethings wrong…" She warned as she scooted out of the booth and made for the door.

"The hell is that about?" Alex asked but he only got shrugs from the others before they all followed Kara outside into freshly fallen snow. They found her standing on the sidewalk gazing down the street towards downtown. Alex walked up beside her and nodded towards the direction she was looking. "What's up?"

"You don't hear that?" She asked quietly.

Alex listened for a second but shrugged when he couldn't hear anything above the usual hustle and bustle of the city. "I don't hear anything. What are you...?" He began to ask as an explosion blew out the side of one of the buildings, echoing towards them and startling the crowds of people around them.

"THAT!" Kara shouted before quickly ducking into an alley to strip down into her uniform as Alex instinctively drew his pistol and searched for hostiles.

After the initial explosion several more rang out across the city followed by bursts of gunfire as the Police and National Guard responded to the blasts. Alex was in the process of ushering civilians towards safety with Barbara when Harley suddenly tackled them to the ground. "What the hell!?" Alex shouted just as machinegun fire riddled the wall behind where he and Barbara had been standing. Looking up he saw a Technical manned by gang members had rolled up. The three of them got up and dove for cover behind their SUV and started returning fire with their pistols to little effect as the Technical's machinegun shredded the vehicle.

"This aint working!" Harley shouted over the gunfire as she reloaded.

"I know that! Any ideas Bab's!?" Alex asked after emptying another magazine into the Technical.

"Kara's got it!" Barbara replied quickly, pointing over to the alley where Kara stood in her Supergirl suit.

Kara didn't waste another second before darting forward, grabbing the barrel of the Technical's machinegun and bending it upward before punching the gunner off the bed. The driver and passenger shouted in fear as they desperately tried to shoot out the windows at Kara but as usual their bullets bounced harmlessly off of her. Kara hopped in front of the vehicle and slammed her fists down on the hood, smashing the engine before placing her boot on the front bumper and kicking the totaled vehicle into the side of the closest building. With the threat neutralized Alex and the others broke cover and joined Kara on the street after making sure the area was clear.

"Nice work Kara!" Alex cheered before more gunshots echoed in the distance.

"No problem, but I don't think we should stay here." Kara replied worriedly.

"Agreed, but it looks like we're walking." Alex replied as he pointed towards their SUV which had been shot full of holes. "We'll had back to the armory and gear up. Barbara, I need you to hop on a radio and get in contact with General Anderson and the Division as soon as we get there, tell them the cities under attack and that we need reinforcements ASAP."

"Got it."

"What about Ivy? I can't get ahold of her!" Harley asked with her phone in hand, concern for her friend written all over her face.

"Ivy's a big girl Harls, she'll be fine." Alex assured her as the gunfire got louder and closer. "Come on, we gotta move!" He exclaimed before heading off in the direction of his apartment with the others in tow.

 **...**

Ivy had been enjoying her day off, all her friends were out on their little date, so she had occupied herself in her greenhouse, getting all her babies ready for winter as snow began to fall. She hummed happily to herself as she tended to one of her plants when she heard the echo of an explosion far off in the distance. Sighing she gave the plant an apologetic look before heading outside to investigate, her boots crunching in the snow as she stepped into the yard and observed the chaos engulfing the city.

Sensing movement nearby Ivy dove to the ground just as a hail of gunfire peppered the side of her house. Looking up she saw several gunmen belonging to Penguins gang reload their AK's in preparation for another attack as they passed by the greenhouse. Seeing an opportunity to gain the advantage Ivy smirked as she willed her plants to burst through the windows and attack the thugs, tripping them up and dragging them into the greenhouse were the more carnivorous plants finished them off.

With the thugs dispatched Ivy rose to her feet and started to make her way back inside to contact the rest of the squad when she heard the "Whoosh" of a missile launch across the street. Turning towards the direction of the noise she found another group of thugs led by a Javelin wielding Bane casually walking up on her.

As they approached Ivy placed her hands on her hips and glared at the masked man in annoyance. "Your eyes must be failing you Bane. How could you possibly miss from that range?" She taunted as Bane dropped the launcher. Ivy continued to glare at him, unimpressed as he stopped in front of her and rose to his full height to tower over her.

"It wasn't you I was aiming for, instead I chose to even the playing field." Bane answered as he raised his hand to point towards the sky. Ivy raised an eyebrow in confusion before looking up to see the missile had completed its arc and was rapidly descending, not towards her but directly towards her house.

"Nooo!" Ivy shrieked, running towards her home and babies only to be blown back into the snow as the missile detonated in a massive fireball inside the greenhouse. Ivy balled up and sobbed in the snow as she felt her babies suddenly die all at once before looking up to glare at Bane once again with murder in her eyes.

"Your precious plants are gone, and the militia Penguin has given me is paving the way for the New Era to claim this city. Surrender Isley and your life will be spared." Bane offered as his men gathered around and leveled their weapons.

"FUCK...YOU!" Ivy chocked out as she struggled to her feet.

"Don't be foolish Isley. I offer you mercy one last time." Bane replied. There were too many thugs to fight off, any attempt would result in her being shot if she wasn't careful. When Ivy didn't move Bane motioned for his men to capture her. "Be careful, she is a slippery one."

Ivy waited for one of the thugs to get close enough before she made use of her pheromones to get him to loosen his guard without the others noticing. As the mans grip on his rifle loosened Ivy quickly grabbed it and shoved the thug back towards his friends before spraying bullets at the surprised group. Not wanting to stick around for them to recover she then ran, emptying the magazine and dropping the weapon as Bane ordered his men to return fire.

Running as fast as she could, Ivy rushed towards the nearest alley as bullets whizzed by and struck the buildings all around her. She kept running for several more blocks deeper into the city before finally stopping behind a fast food joint and collapsing from exertion against the side of a dumpster.

Ivy laid there for several minutes to catch her breath and mourn the loss of her babies but the sounds of battle in the distance reminded her that she was still in danger. The New Era's invasion had begun and she was caught in the middle of it. Knowing that she had to get in contact with her friends Ivy reached for her phone only to realize that she had left it in her now destroyed home. With no way to contact anyone Ivy decided to make her way to the recruitment office to see if they were there before checking at the apartment.

Destinations in mind Ivy made to stand only to double over from a sharp pain in her side.

"What the hell!?" Feeling around her torso Ivy felt her hand slide over something sticky and she pulled it away to find it coated in a dark red liquid. Looking down Ivy realized to her horror that she had been shot. More blood slowly poured out of a ragged exit wound on the right side of her abdomen. "FUCK!" She screamed as she pressed her palm to the wound to put pressure on it. With a grunt Ivy slowly rose to her feet while keeping her hand pressed to her side and slowly began to limp in the direction of the office, hoping that she'd make it in time before she bled out.

 **...**

Alex buckled the chin strap of his helmet before grabbing his IAR and charging it. After making it back to the apartment he and his friends had kitted up in preparation for battle. With all his gear gathered Alex walked over to were Barbara was huddled over a radio.

"What's the situation looking like?" He asked expectantly.

"Downtowns overrun, the majority of friendly forces are rallying at an evac site outside Wayne Tower." Barbara answered as she packed up the radio.

"And the Division?"

"They're pinned down by artillery fire about thirty miles southwest of here. General Anderson said he can't send reinforcements until they deal with the attack and regroup."

"God damnit! You get that Kara?" Alex asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, thirty miles southwest." Kara repeated.

"I need you to go help out Anderson, get them outta the shit so they can help us. The rest of us will push towards Wayne Tower and assist in the evacuation if possible. Barbara, I need you to maintain comms with Kara and get in touch with whoever's in charge of the defense at the Tower, let them know we're en route."

"We still haven't heard from Ivy. If we leave she won't know where we're going!" Harley worried.

Alex sighed and shook his head. "I know that Harley, believe me I'm worried too, but we got bigger issues to worry about. We'll leave a message behind for her if she manages to get here, but we have to keep moving." He told her. Alex hated himself for saying it, but he knew that Ivy would understand. "Alright, you have your orders, let's move!"

The four gathered their gear and made their way through the building and back out to the snow-covered streets, Kara giving Barbara a quick kiss goodbye before flying off to help relieve the besieged Division.

Alex led his remaining squad through the streets towards Wayne Tower, the three of them bounding block by block through the city, dodging gunfire from seemingly every direction as they advanced.

"Suppress and move! Suppress and move!" Alex shouted as he fired a long burst into the second story window of an office building to allow Barbara and Harley to move forward.

"We're set, move!" Harley shouted back before firing at the same window.

Alex broke cover and sprinted across the street just as the thug in the window popped up again and fired, his rounds impacting the road mere inches behind Alex. Startled by the fire, Alex slipped on the frozen pavement and crashed onto the floor, presenting the thug the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

As Alex pushed himself up he saw the thug pivot his machinegun towards him just as he heard a "Thuump!" before the window exploded in a shower of smoke and concrete. Alex looked over to his friends to see Harley reloading her underslung grenade launcher.

"Thanks for that!" Alex exclaimed once he caught up.

Harley smiled sadly at him as she embraced him. "I mighta lost my best friend today Alex, I'm not losing you too..." She replied quietly before letting go of him.

"You won't. Come on, let's keep going. How much further Barbara?"

"About five blocks. We might wanna pick up the pace though, it's getting dark and it sounds like they're getting hit pretty hard out there." Barbara replied, noting the distant sound of automatic weapons.

"Any word on your boys?"

"Trust me, they're out fighting somewhere."

"Fair enough, let's go!"

The three fought their way through the last remaining blocks before reaching Wayne Tower Plaza. Towards the North of the plaza sat the large tower, to the West gang members fired into the towers lobby from a three-story parking garage. On the East side of the plaza more gang members rushed through a construction zone to reinforce their comrades in the garage. Lastly, the plaza itself was filled with multiple fountains and snow covered planters, dozens of bodies strewn out all over.

"We're not running through that, are we!?" Barbara asked as she took in the violent scene.

"Yeah, fuck that. Let's flank around the construction and get to the tower!" Alex directed as he surveyed the battlefield.

They waited for the latest wave to pass before ducking through the construction site behind the thugs, coming out the other side closer to the tower. Alex halted them behind a fountain just in front of the steps leading up to the lobby, which had been barricaded with several Guardsmen and Police Officers guarding the steps.

"Friendlies!" Alex shouted over to the troops.

"Friendlies coming in!" A Guardsman relayed back into the lobby before waving for them to go in. The three quickly ran inside past the barricades right into Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and Robin.

"Commissioner!"

"Barbara!?"

"Dad?"

"Batman! Birdbrain!"

"Harley..."

The awkward greeting was made worse as Commissioner Gordon rounded on his daughter. "What are you doing here Barbara!?" He asked, his face fuming angrily.

"You know I joined the reserves Dad!" Barbara shot back, maintaining the cover she had used to disguise her long absences from home.

Gordon grumbled angrily before rounding on Alex. "You roped my daughter into this Westbrook! If she gets hurt in anyway I'll..." He threatened before Batman placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Now isn't the time Jim. Your daughters a grown woman and she's defending her home just like we are."

"I'm aware of that Batman, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about my only daughter being stuck in the middle of a war zone with our only reinforcements pinned down miles away!"

"Supergirl's working on that problem Sir, but my Marines and I are at your disposal." Alex informed him.

"If you think I'm going to order my own daughter into combat..." Gordon growled before Barbara stepped between them and got in her dad's face.

"Dad, you need to stop seeing me as your little girl! Batman's right, I chose to do this! Point us in a direction and let me do my job!" Barbara shouted at him. The two stared each other down but eventually Gordon gave in.

"Alright Barbara, you've made your choice." He sighed before turning back to Alex. "All the evac birds are gone but we're still stuck here until we get more help, for now I need you guys to clear out that garage and hold the Southwest corner until we get some reinforcements. I'll send Detective Bullock and Sergeant Montoya with you for back up."

"I'm coming too!" Robin volunteered eagerly, but Alex shook his head no.

"Sorry Robin, I know you beat up bad guys for a living but a war zone ain't no place for a kid." He told him.

"I'm not a kid! I'm going whether you like it or not!"

"Ugh, just stay behind cover." Alex sighed as Bullock and Montoya joined them. "You two ready for this?" He asked them.

"Damn right we are! This is my preferred method of cleaning up the streets." Bullock grinned as he patted his .44 Magnum.

"What he's trying to say is that we're the best officers the Commissioner's got. We'll follow your lead Sergeant." Montoya clarified.

"Appreciate it Sergeant. Alright Echo, let's move out!"

The reinforced squad waited for the Guardsmen and officers staying back to cover them before storming the parking garage. Alex fired his IAR at the first thugs that appeared, dropping them but at the same time alerting their comrades of his presence. More militia appeared, firing pop shots at Alex and his squad with one particularly annoying one pinning the small team down by wildly spraying an RPK across the garage.

Alex quickly dove behind a car to avoid the spray that just narrowly missed him. "Someone get a grenade on that asshole!" He shouted over the roaring gunfire.

To his surprise Barbara was the one to pop up, grenade in hand with the pin pulled. "Frag out!" She yelled loud enough to warn the others of the impending explosion as she tossed the grenade. It sailed through the air, landing in front of the RPK wielding thug before exploding violently, blowing the man's legs off below the knee and peppering his body with lethal amounts of shrapnel.

"Nice throw! Quinzel, Bullock push forward, Montoya cover fire!" Alex ordered, taking advantage of the break in the militias *OODA loop to gain the upper hand.

Using their newly gained momentum the squad pushed through the rest of the garage, clearing it of all militia and allowing more surviving Guardsmen and Police to occupy more defensive positions.

Alex reloaded his empty weapon and counted his remaining magazines before addressing his squad. "Montoya, Bullock, take some Guardsmen and post a machinegun covering Northeast to Southeast on the second floor. The rest of you dig in on the ground floor. The city's crawling with bad guys right now and they're all headed our way, but not one of those assholes gets past this corner, oorah!?"

 **"RAH!"**

 **...**

The sun was setting as Ivy limped her way through the alleys towards the recruitment office. She didn't know how, but she had managed to avoid any further encounters with Bane or the thugs he commanded, though at this point she figured getting shot again would be a mercy. Ivy was losing more and more blood, her already pale skin was nearly as white as Joker's and she was covered in a thin veil of sweat.

As she rounded the corner to the office she was startled when a hail of bullets impacted the wall behind her. Throwing herself behind the nearest car for cover she waited for the fire to stop before peeking her head out to see a dark-skinned man in Army ACU's inside the Army office carrying an M249 SAW.

"Sergeant Jones!?" Ivy weakly shouted out.

"Hooah!" The man shouted in response.

"It's Isley! You fucking asshole!" She yelled angrily.

"Damnit Isley, I almost killed you! Come to me I'll cover you!"

Ivy tried to stand again but found she couldn't find the strength to do so. "Jones, I'm shot! I can't get up!" She cried out as she ground her teeth in pain.

"Hang on Isley, I'm coming!" He shouted as Ivy struggled to keep her eyes open. She heard the sound of his feet running towards her and suddenly Jones was next to her, concern all over his face. "Shit that looks bad! Come on let's get you inside!" He said as he slung his weapon and helped Ivy stand.

As Jones helped her across the street Ivy found it harder and harder to focus and she could feel her eyes becoming heavy. "Come on Isley just a few more feet!" Jones urged her on as they finally reached the office. Very carefully Jones lowered Ivy onto the couch inside just as her eyes snapped shut.

 **...**

Kara flew high above the ground searching for the New Era artillery bombarding the 2nd Marine Division. As she flew several loud "Booms" echoed in the distance and she immediately turned and headed in the direction of the noise.

On a small, snow covered hill a platoon of New Era troopers crewed several howitzers all pointed in the direction of friendly forces. Not wanting the guns to fire again Kara darted towards them, smashing one of the guns as she landed and startling the unprepared troopers.

"Shoot her!" One of the troopers shouted before all hell broke loose. The troopers fired their rifles at Kara, but she shrugged the bullets off as she walked towards them. Kara quickly dispatched the closest troopers by throwing them into one of the guns and rendering them unconscious. Realizing that they were powerless to stop her the remaining troopers turned and ran into the woods, abandoning their unconscious comrades..

The troopers dealt with Kara got to work disabling the artillery guns by ripping out the firing mechanisms and bending the barrels till they were unusable before gathering up the unspent shells away from the area and disposing of them with her laser vision. With the artillery neutralized Kara flew back up into the air and headed for the Division, hoping that now they'd be free to help her friends.

But when she arrived at their location she saw nothing but chaos. Marines and Navy Corpsmen scurried around, pulling their wounded and dead brethren out of destroyed vehicles and burning tents, as the area was filled with shouts and cries of agony. Kara wandered through the camp until she found General Anderson barking orders to several officers.

"...Need Alpha Company to reinforce the Northern perimeter ASAP!" He shouted, pointing behind him before one of the officers ran off to relay the order.

"General Anderson!" Kara called out to him.

The General looked over in surprise before excusing himself and hurrying over to her. "Supergirl! You're a sight for sore eyes!"

"I've taken out the artillery shelling you guys General, but Gotham is still being overrun. We need help there now!" She explained urgently.

"I'm aware of the situation Supergirl, but we took a lot of casualties. Too make things worse Recon spotted a large element of hostile armor and foot mobiles heading our way. We're holding this position until we can evacuate our wounded and then we're regrouping."

"You're leaving!? General, everyone in Gotham will die if you don't send help!" Kara pleaded. She didn't come all this way just to leave her friends to die.

"I'm sorry Kara, but the number of casualties we have we'd do more harm than good." He attempted to reason with her.

"What if I help you fight off the New Era? Could you send help then?"

"I want to Kara, but one Kryptonian isn't enough to stop an Army."

"How about two Kryptonians?" A voice asked from nearby. The two turned to see Superman emerge from behind a column of smoke. "I heard your distress call General, sorry I couldn't get here sooner." He apologized before smiling at his cousin. "Good to see you Kara, I hear you've been doing good work over in Gotham."

"Yeah, it's good to see you to Kal, but I need the Divisions help to save my friends." She replied bluntly.

"General, if we buy your men time to get your wounded out could you spare some Marines?" Superman asked.

General Anderson rubbed his chin in thought before sighing. "You buy us time to get these men outta here and I'll give you two platoons, a handful of vehicles, and a gunship or two. That's the best I can do." He answered.

"Understood, thank you General." Superman replied as a Corporal ran up to them.

"Sirs! Ma'am! Enemy tanks closing fast!" The Corporal warned them before running off to pass on the message to others.

Superman turned to his cousin and grinned. "Looks like that's our que."

"Right behind you!" Kara grinned before the two of them jumped into the air and headed towards the approaching tanks.

 **...**

Ivy woke with a gasp as she propped herself up and took in her surroundings. She was lying on the couch in the Army recruitment office while Sergeant Jones crouched behind his desk with his M249 propped up and aimed out the window. The sounds of gunfire in the distance reminded her that there was still a battle going on outside and that she had been shot while escaping an ambush at her home. Ivy pulled up the hem of her shirt to check on her wound to find her abdomen wrapped in gauze. She poked at the gauze covering her wound and found the area was still tender but no longer sent pain through her body. With a grunt Ivy slowly got to her feet and walked over to her rescuer.

"Bout time you got up Isley. I was beginning to worry that I'd botched that patch job up." Jones smiled as Ivy joined him.

"Thanks Sergeant. How bad was it?" She asked curiously.

"Round went through clean without damaging any organs from what I can tell. I'm not a medic though, so you should definitely get that wound rechecked first chance you get."

"Got it. So, what the hell is going on? One minute I was relaxing in my garden and the next Bane and a bunch of his lackeys start shooting at me and destroyed my home."

"Damn, sorry to hear that but at least you're alive. As for what's happening it's seems that the local gangs have joined up and are hell bent on causing as much destruction as possible. They've mostly been going after police and military personnel but from what I've seen outside even civilians are fair game to them, fucking cowards…" Jones spat angrily.

"Before he attacked me Bane said that he and the militia were clearing out the city for the New Era to take Gotham." Ivy explained. "If what he said is true, then they have to be on their way here as we speak."

"Clever bastards, use the local thugs to clear out the place so they can move in without a single casualty. If that's the case we won't last long on our own here, we should move and try to regroup with friendly forces."

"Agreed. Have you seen Sergeant Westbrook or the rest of my squad?" Ivy asked hopefully.

"Not since they went for chow in the afternoon, but I wouldn't worry if I were you, your friends can handle themselves. Now while you were out I was listening to my radio and it sounds like anyone that's left is regrouping at an evacuation site around Wayne Tower. I couldn't make it across the city on my own, but if we work together we just might make it, if you're able to move that is."

"I'll be fine Sergeant." Ivy assured, more to herself than Jones.

"Great. There should be a rifle in a locker down the hall, it's yours if you want it." Jones told her, pointing towards the hall he'd mentioned.

Ivy nodded before getting up and heading down the hall, finding the locker Jones had mentioned already unlocked and an older M16A2 rifle with a handful of magazines waiting for her inside. She grabbed the rifle and stowed the magazines away in her pockets before heading back to Jones. "Ready." She told him as she walked towards the door and peeked outside to see if it was clear or not.

Jones joined her and offered her his radio. "Here, you can try to get ahold of Westbrook and your guys on this."

Ivy nodded her thanks before taking the radio and programming her squads frequency into it. After loading the frequency, she held the radio up to her face and pressed the talk button. "Empire One Actual this is Empire One Bravo come in, over." She waited for a minute but there was no response and she began to worry that something terrible had happened.

"Maybe their just outta range?" Jones suggested optimistically when he saw Ivy's face crease with worry.

"I hope that's the case. Come on, let's not sit here and wait for the New Era to show up on our doorstep." Ivy replied, stowing the radio in her back pocket before shouldering her rifle and making her way down the war-torn streets towards Wayne Tower with Jones following closely behind her.

Along the way they took in the destruction the battle had left behind as it moved towards the city center. Destroyed vehicles, ruined buildings, and numerous bodies were everywhere they looked, and Ivy stopped every time she saw a ruined Humvee or downed helicopter, fearful that she would find her friends dead inside but luckily, she had yet to discover any corpses in Marine fatigues. As she and Jones continued their journey Ivy held onto the hope that her friends would be waiting for her at the tower and not lying dead on the side of the street somewhere.

 **...**

Back in the parking garage beside Wayne Tower, Barbara scanned the construction zone across the plaza with her ACOG sight. Night had fallen and after hours of continuous fighting with the militia there was finally a lull in the battle, though smaller firefights could still be heard in the distance.

spotting slight movement, Barbara squinted and barely made out the silhouette of a person welding an RPG roughly 300 yards away on the second floor of the incomplete skyscraper. Compensating for the range with the yardage markers in her scope, Barbara waited for the shadow to appear again before firing a single shot, the muzzle report echoing across the plaza. The silhouette crumpled as the round impacted its chest, exploding in a spray of crimson blood.

"Nice shot." A voice said from behind her.

Looking over her shoulder she saw Tim looking out across the plaza with a pair of binos, a frown plastered on his face. "Something tells me you don't really mean that Tim." Barbara smiled but he remained frowning. "Come on don't look at me like that. I'm still me."

"Are you? Because the Barbara I know would never even think about killing someone." He replied angrily.

"Yeah, well, war will do that to you. Don't think that I enjoy it Tim, because I don't, but from all that I've seen and done over the past year it's become abundantly clear that non-lethal force can't solve every problem."

"No, I refuse to accept that Barbara! Batgirl is better than that, but if you truly think that way now then you don't deserve to wear that symbol!" Tim exclaimed loudly, pointing to the identification patch adorned with the Bat symbol on her plate carrier.

"Both of you shut the fuck up!" Alex hissed from his position, annoyance at Tim's lack of noise discipline evident in his voice.

"Aye Sergeant..." Barbara grumbled while giving Tim one final glare before returning her attention to the battlefield just as the radio on her pack squelched.

 _"Empire...Actual...FzzzT...One-Bravo...FzzzT...Over!"_ The transmission came in broken and nearly unreadable but even through the static Barbara recognized Ivy's voice.

"Sergeant over here!" She exclaimed as she picked up the handset. "One-Bravo this is One-Charlie, I read you broken but readable, how me?" She asked as Alex left his position.

 _"Same...FzzT...ame, Over."_

"Is that Ivy? She's alive!" Alex asked, relief washing over his features as he grabbed the handset from Barbara. "Isley, it's Westbrook! Where the hell have you been, are you ok!?" He whispered excitedly into the radio.

 _"I'm...alive. I've got Ser...FzzT...Jones with me. We're...FzzT...towards Wayne Tower, where are...FzzT...guys?"_ Came Ivy's response, somewhat clearer as she moved closer to their position.

"We're in the garage at the Southwest corner of the tower plaza, how far are you guys?"

 _"Coming...FzzT...on the plaza from the South side now. Can you cover us Sergeant?"_

"Yeah, we got you, just watch the upper floors. Militias regrouping but we don't know for how much longer." Alex warned.

 _"We'll be careful."_

After taking the handset back from Alex, Barbara looked down the road to see two figures quickly making their way towards the plaza.

"Alright listen up! We got two guys coming in from the South. Gordon, Quinzel, cover their approach! Bullock, Montoya, stay on your machinegun and keep an eye out for hostiles!" Alex ordered, and Barbara quickly switched positions, joining Harley at the Southern entrance with Tim following behind.

Training her rifle on upper levels of the surrounding buildings Barbara watched as Ivy and Jones stacked up along the building opposite them and prepared to bound over to her position. Once their side was set up to provide cover Alex signaled for the incoming team to cross. Jones ran over first and dove behind the nearest cover at their position before Ivy began limping across the street, but as she hobbled over her foot slipped on a patch of ice and she tumbled to the ground, letting out a hiss of pain as she landed on her injured side.

"Ivy!" Harley shouted without thinking and Barbara swore as every Militia member within earshot heard her shout. Suddenly the entire plaza was once again filled with bullets whizzing back and forth through the air.

"SHIT! Stay down Ivy!" Barbara yelled to the injured woman as muzzle flashes erupted across the plaza, narrowly missing Ivy. Firing off several rounds into a window Barbara noticed too late that Tim had run out of the garage and was headed towards Ivy to help her up. "Tim no!" She shouted as the Militia turned their fire towards the now exposed Robin.

"Come on Ivy I got you!" She heard Tim say just as a round tore through his leg. "AHH my leg!" He shrieked in pain as he dropped to the pavement next to Ivy.

"Sergeant cover us!" Barbara called back to Alex as she looked at Harley while nodding in the direction of their fallen comrades. Harley nodded back as Alex propped his IAR up on its bipod and switched the selector from semi to automatic.

"Go, go, go!" Alex shouted as he let loose with his rifle, suppressing the nearest building with automatic fire.

Barbara and Harley quickly ran out into the street, Harley going for Ivy and Barbara going for Tim. Scooping the wounded teenager into her arms Barbara quickly turned on her heel and carried him back into the garage as fast as she could with Harley and Ivy not far behind her.

"Hang on Tim!" Barbara shouted as she reentered the garage and placed Tim down in the bed of an abandoned pick-up truck as he wailed in agony. She tore away the fabric of Tim's pants around the wound to get a better view, but once exposed warm blood sprayed out in a small geyser, splashing her face and chest in the red liquid. Barbara quickly pressed her hands down on the wound to apply pressure, but more blood steady flowed out between her fingers. "I need help over here!" Barbara shouted over the gunfire and Tim's cries of pain.

"Where's he hit!" Alex shouted as he rushed over to them after checking on Ivy.

"Gunshot wound right leg! He's losing blood fast!" She informed him.

Alex nodded and reached into one of his pouches, retrieving a tourniquet before applying it to Tim's leg as Barbara applied more pressure. "I'll take over and do what I can, get on that radio and call up a *Nine-Line." He told her once the tourniquet was on.

Barbara nodded before grabbing her handset again and radioing in to General Anderson. "Overlord, Overlord, this is Empire One-Charlie, come in over!" She shouted as Alex continued his efforts.

 _"This is Overlord, send your traffic One-Charlie."_ General Anderson's voice replied.

"Roger, we have wounded here, standby for CASEVAC Nine-Line." Barbara urgently said but before she could get another word in she was cutoff.

 _"Negative that request. All CASEVAC birds are either tasked out or disabled, over."_ Anderson informed her. It took Barbara a second to process what had just been said but Tim's cries of pain snapped her back to reality.

"Sir please! Its Robin, he's just a kid!" Barbara pleaded, tears threatening to fall as she heard Tim's wailing continue over the gunfire.

"If he doesn't get help in the next half hour he's gonna be in real trouble!" Alex warned her. She looked back over to see that despite a tourniquet being applied blood was still steadily flowing from Tim's leg.

 _"I understand your situation, but we have our own wounded here. We're attempting to organize a rescue column now, but you'll have to maintain the situation until they arrive, over."_

Barbara couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her friend was bleeding out right in front of her and there was no way for anyone to help him. "Understood Sir, Empire out..." She muttered, her grip tightening on the handset before angrily throwing it against the nearest wall.

"Easy Barbara, now's not the time to loss it!" Alex scolded as he worked on staunching the blood flow seeping out of Tim's leg though he was having a hard time as Tim kept writhing in pain while he worked. "Get over here and hold him!" Barbara ran back over and replaced Alex's hand with her own. "Keep applying pressure to that wound, I'm gonna try to find a medic!" Alex told her before running off to a group of Guardsmen on the other end of the parking garage while shouting for a medic.

As Barbara held her hands down Tim continued to writhe and cry in pain beneath her, the bed of the truck now covered in a small pool of blood. "Hang in there Tim, it's gonna be ok!" Barbara assured her friend before looking over to see everyone else was still engaged in the firefight. Sergeant Jones had joined Montoya and Bullock, Harley was busy looking over a clearly wounded Ivy, Alex was off searching for a medic, and her Dad and Bruce were no doubt busy fighting over at the tower itself.

From were she stood Barbara felt that their current situation was hopeless. They were outnumbered five to one and it wouldn't be long before they ran out of ammunition to keep the militia at bay, not to mention that the New Era would most likely arrive before their own reinforcements. Their only hope now laid with Kara and the rescue column being organized to extract them.

"Come on Kara, we need you…" Barbara prayed as the firefight raged well into the night.

… **Hostile Invasion of Gotham in Progress/2** **nd** **MARDIV In Contact/ Estimated Civilian Casualties: Over 100,000/ Estimated U.S. Military, Law Enforcement Casualties: Less Than 2000…**

 ***OODA Loop: Decision making process, Observe/Orient/Decide/Act**

 ***CASEVAC 9-Line: Radio format used to send patient information/priority, sustained injures, and method of evacuation**

 **Special Task Group: Echo (Empire) Battle Roster**

 **O-10/General: Anderson, Robert**

 **Branch of Service: USMC**

 **Callsign(S): Overlord**

 **ZAP Code: RA1331**

 **Billet: Commanding Officer/Advisor**

 **EDL: M9 Pistol**

 **Licenses: N/A**

 **Status: Green**

* * *

 **E-5/Sergeant: Westbrook, Alexander**

 **Branch of Service: USMC**

 **Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Actual**

 **ZAP Code: AW0762**

 **Billet: Squad leader**

 **EDL: M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, 3.5X SDO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL, M9 Pistol**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), MRAP CAT II(Cougar 4x4/6x6), MRAP CAT III(Buffalo), VMMD(Husky)**

 **Status: Green**

* * *

 **E-3/Lance Corporal: Isley, Pamela**

 **Branch of Service: USMC**

 **Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Bravo, Poison Ivy**

 **ZAP Code: PI0919**

 **Billet: Assistant Squad Leader, Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Specialist, Force Multiplier**

 **EDL: M16A2 Rifle**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee)**

 **Status: Wounded In Action**

* * *

 **E-1/Private: Gordon, Barbara**

 **Branch of Service: USMC**

 **Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Charlie, Batgirl**

 **ZAP Code: BG1967**

 **Billet: Intelligence/Communications Specialists**

 **EDL: M4 Carbine, 4X RCO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), RQ-11B DDL SUAV(Raven)**

 **Status: Green**

* * *

 **E-2/Private First Class: Quinzel, Harleen**

 **Branch of Service: USMC**

 **Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Delta, Harley Quinn**

 **ZAP Code: HQ0556**

 **Billet: Grenadier, Designated Driver, Psychiatrist**

 **EDL: M4 Carbine, M203 Grenade Launcher, 4X RCO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL, M1911 Pistol**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee)**

 **Status: Green**

* * *

 **Zor-El, Kara**

 **Branch of Service: Justice League**

 **Callsign(S): Echo/Empire One Fox, Supergirl**

 **ZAP Code: KZ3006**

 **Billet: Attachment/Liaison, Force Multiplier**

 **EDL: N/A**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), Javelin-7 VTOL**

 **Status: Green**

* * *

 **E-5/Sergeant: Jones, Darrius**

 **Branch of Service: US Army**

 **Callsign(S): Echo Five Juliet**

 **ZAP Code: DJ0223**

 **Billet: Attachment(Unofficial), Machine Gunner**

 **EDL: M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, 3.5X SDO ACOG, AN/PEQ-15 ATPIAL**

 **Licenses: HMMWV(Humvee), FMTV (5-Ton)**

 **Status: Green**


End file.
